{"id":655028,"date":"2013-04-13T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-14T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/serkadis.com\/index\/?guid=c1f4c26d92c686bc84c5ed47a7f39229"},"modified":"2013-04-13T20:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-04-14T00:00:00","slug":"news-story-baroness-thatchers-funeral-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/655028","title":{"rendered":"News story: Baroness Thatcher’s funeral service"},"content":{"rendered":"
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St Paul\u2019s Cathedral released\u00a0a copy of the Order of Service for Baroness Thatcher\u2019s funeral service.<\/a><\/p>\n

The funeral service – which\u00a0began at 11am on Wednesday 17th April – was marked by a\u00a0single half-muffled bell toll as the cortege arrived. The St Paul\u2019s Cathedral Guild of Ringers\u00a0rang \u2018Stedman Cinques\u2019 with the Cathedral\u2019s bells half-muffled,\u00a0for about 30 minutes.<\/p>\n

Royal Hospital Chelsea chosen for charitable donations<\/h2>\n

The West Steps of the Cathedral was lined by 14 Pensioners of the Royal Hospital Chelsea (aged between 65 and 90 years old).
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\nLady Thatcher had a strong connection to the Hospital over the last 10 years.\u00a0She started attending the Chapel at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in 2002 with her husband Sir Denis Thatcher when she moved back to the area and continued attending after he passed away. She was a very strong supporter of fundraising for the Margaret Thatcher Infirmary which was completed in 2009.\u00a0
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\nThere were two arrangements of white lilies and greenery at the foot of the lectern.\u00a0There was also a ring of flowers around the candle.\u00a0Lady Thatcher\u2019s family asked that, if people wish to pay their respects, they consider making a donation to the Royal Hospital Chelsea rather than laying flowers.\u00a0Details of how to do so are available on the Royal Hospital Chelsea website.<\/a><\/p>\n

A service framed by British\u00a0music<\/h2>\n

Lady Thatcher wanted the service to be \u2018framed\u2019 by British music.\u00a0Several traditional pieces by many of the great British composers were played at the beginning and end of the service.\u00a0She chose the hymn, \u2018He Who Would Valiant Be\u2019, because as well as being a traditional hymn for such an occasion, its words reflected her philosophy.\u00a0It was also a favourite hymn from her childhood.<\/p>\n

The Charles Wesley hymn, \u2018Love Divine, All Loves Excelling\u2019, reflects the influence of her Methodist upbringing. While Psalm 84, set to the music of Johannes Brahms, is also a personal and significant choice. It is the same piece that Lady Thatcher chose to be played at the funeral of her husband Sir Denis Thatcher. <\/p>\n

The final hymn, \u2018I Vow To Thee, My Country\u2019, is considered one of the great patriotic verses.<\/p>\n

Lady Thatcher\u2019s favourite poem featured<\/h2>\n

The Right Reverend and Right Honourable Richard Chartres delivered the address at the service.<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister and Amanda Thatcher delivered the two readings, both great traditional funeral readings from the King James Bible.\u00a0Lady Thatcher was particularly fond of the King James Bible and found its prose to be beautifully poetic.<\/p>\n

TS Eliot was a particular favourite, which is why she chose \u2018Little Gidding\u2019 from Four Quartets for the service. One of\u00a0Lady Thatcher\u2019s\u00a0favourite poems, William Wordsworth\u2019s poem \u2018Ode: Intimations of Immortality\u2019, is printed on the final page of the order of service.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St Paul\u2019s Cathedral released\u00a0a copy of the Order of Service for Baroness Thatcher\u2019s funeral service. The funeral service – which\u00a0began at 11am on Wednesday 17th April – was marked by a\u00a0single half-muffled bell toll as the cortege arrived. The St Paul\u2019s Cathedral Guild of Ringers\u00a0rang \u2018Stedman Cinques\u2019 with the Cathedral\u2019s bells half-muffled,\u00a0for about 30 minutes. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8172,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-655028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655028\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}