Sir Mark Thatcher to return to UK tonight
Sir Mark Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher's son, is due to return to the United
Kingdom tonight, it is understood.
Sir Mark, 59, who was thought to have been living in Spain, is returning for
his mother's funeral on Wednesday.
His twin sister Carol, who has a home in Switzerland, will also return before
the funeral next week.
They have previously asked to grieve in private and have said they will not be
making a statement.
Lord Bell, the family spokesman, said: "They are very private people,
they very rarely talk about their feelings."
Sir Mark, who visited his mother on a regular basis and took her for lunch on
her 87th birthday, was arrested in South Africa in 2004 for his alleged
involvement in a failed coup in Equatorial Guinea.
He denied plotting or knowingly financing the coup, but admitted chartering an
aircraft allegedly intended to fly an exiled opposition leader into the
county.
He subsequently spent time in Gibraltar and Monaco before moving to Spain. He
is now thought to be involved in a property development business.
He had been renting a large villa in a gated complex in Marbella, but there
was no sign of him at the property on Monday.
Carol Thatcher moved to Switzerland after becoming increasingly disenchanted
with life in Britain.
In 2009 she was dropped by the BBC after using the word “golliwog” to describe
a tennis player on The One Show.
She subsequently told The Telegraph that she was considering life
abroad. “I’m becoming increasingly despondent about the state of this
country, and I am beginning to look elsewhere.”
She has a flat in Klosters, where she had an on-off relationship with Marco
Grass, a ski-instructor.
It was revealed earlier today that the Queen would also attend the funeral,
the first ceremonial funeral for a former British Prime Minister she has
ever attended. She attended the state funeral of Winston Churchill.
There are no plans for other members of the Royal family to attend, a
spokeswoman for Clarence house added, and the Queen will be acting in her
capacity as the head of state.
Lady Thatcher’s body is currently being held in an undisclosed location after
it was removed from the Ritz Hotel in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
She died from a stroke as she was sat up in bed reading on Monday morning,
aged 87.
On Tuesday her coffin will be transferred to the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft
in the Palace of Westminster. There will be a short service following its
arrival before the coffin rests in the chapel overnight.
Members of the armed services will then line the route of the procession from
the Palace of Westminster during the ceremonial funeral, the level granted
to the Queen Mother and Lady Diana, with full military honours.
Lady Thatcher specifically did not want a full state funeral, her spokesman
Lord Bell said.
Whitehall sources have told the Guardian that she had vetoed the idea
as it would require a parliamentary bill to permit public funds to be used.
Lord Bell has confirmed that she requested that she did not get a fly past by
military aircraft as it would be a "waste of money".
"She specifically did not want a state funeral and nor did her family.
She particularly did not wish to lie in state as she thought that was not
appropriate," he said.
Number 10 has confirmed that a wide range of friends and colleagues would be
invited to the service at St Paul's, which would be followed by a private
cremation. The funeral itself will be televised.
A Downing Street statement said: "On the day itself, the streets will be
cleared of traffic and the coffin will travel by hearse from the Chapel of
St Mary Undercroft in the Palace of Westminster to the Church of St Clement
Danes, the RAF Chapel, on the Strand.
"At the church the coffin will be transferred to a gun carriage drawn by
the King's Troop Royal Artillery. The coffin will then be borne in
procession from St Clement Danes to St Paul's Cathedral. The route will be
lined by tri-service military personnel."
The route from the Church of St Clement Danes will be lined by personnel from
the RAF, Navy and Army before it is met at St Paul's by a guard of honour.
Members of the armed services and pensioners of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
will line the steps of St Paul's.
Former colleagues, as well as the Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy
Prime Minister Nick Clegg, will be invited.
Flags will be flown at half mast at Downing Street today and tomorrow, and
will be again on the day of the funeral.
No comments:
Post a Comment