14 DAY TRIAL // Baroness Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first female Prime Minister but also the “Iron Lady” whose impact on the economy and politics of the country shaped the thinking of the next generation of politicians, has died. Mrs. Thatcher was 87 years old.
She died of a stroke just hours ago, The Telegraph reports.
Sir Mark and Carol, the former Prime Minister’s children, have confirmed the sad news for the publication.
Lord Bell, Thatcher’s publicist, says that she died peacefully at home, surrounded by family.
“It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning. A further statement will be made later,” Lord Bell says.
Mrs. Thatcher’s health had been declining in recent years.
In 2001 and 2002, she suffered a series of small strokes and, later on, in 2008, she was diagnosed with dementia. Her daughter Carol revealed at the time that she could barely remember the events of the past decade because of the condition.
In her late years, she had become more isolated and was not in a condition to come out even for the biggest events, such as Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding in 2011.
Even so, her popularity never decreased: during her time as Prime Minister (1979-1990), she became a political leader to aspire to, to fear and to respect, one who fought hard to get Britain’s economy going again.
As the Telegraph puts it, perhaps only Winston Churchill could rival her in terms of national hero status.
“Lady Thatcher was the only British prime minister to leave behind a set of ideas about the role of the state which other leaders and nations strove to copy and apply,” the publication says.
“Many features of the modern globalized economy – monetarism, privatization, deregulation, small government, lower taxes and free trade – were all promoted as a result of policies she employed to reverse Britain’s economic decline,” The Telegraph further writes.
Margaret Thatcher is survived by 2 children.