Breaking the protocol, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II will attend the funeral of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at St Paul’s Cathedral next week.
The monarch’s decision to attend the ceremony is a break with procedure, although dignitaries from around the world are expected to attend, as protocol states that royals do not attend the funerals of politicians.
The Queen, accompanied by Prince Philip, will attend the service, Buckingham Palace said.
This was one reason why Queen Victoria did not go to the funeral of former Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli despite the two being friends.
Queen Elizabeth II last broke with tradition to attend Winston Churchill’s state funeral in 1965.
Earlier today, the Prime Minister David Cameron’s Downing Street office, in a statement, said that “the funeral service of Lady Thatcher will take place on Wednesday April 17 at St Paul’s Cathedral.”
Thatcher, who was known as the ‘Iron Lady’, yesterday died of a stroke at the age of 87.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.