Thatcher 'formidable energy' hailed

Richard Chartres delivered the address at Baroness Thatcher's funeral service in St Paul's
17 April 2013

The Bishop of London sought to focus on the personal qualities of Baroness Thatcher, her Christian upbringing and her "formidable energy and passion" as he delivered the address at her funeral service.

The Rt Rev Richard Chartres spoke of the "storm of a life lived in the heat of political controversy", but said Lady Thatcher's funeral was a place for "ordinary human compassion of the kind that is reconciling" and "simple truths" which transcended political debate.

"After the storm of a life lived in the heat of political controversy, there is a great calm," he told the congregation at St Paul's Cathedral.

"The storm of conflicting opinions centres on the Mrs Thatcher who became a symbolic figure - even an 'ism'. Today the remains of the real Margaret Hilda Thatcher are here at her funeral service. Lying here, she is one of us, subject to the common destiny of all human beings."

The Rt Rev Chartres said it was easy to forget the "immense hurdles" Lady Thatcher had overcome. She had experienced "many rebuffs" in her efforts to be selected as a Parliamentary candidate because of prejudice against women, he said, before entering the House of Commons in 1959 as one of a small group of women MPs.

"Perseverance in struggle and the courage to be were characteristic of Margaret Thatcher," he said. "In a setting like this, in the presence of the leaders of the nations, or any representatives of nations and countries throughout the world, it is easy to forget the immense hurdles she had to climb.

"Beginning in the upper floors of her father's grocer's shop in Grantham, through Oxford as a scientist and, later, as part of the team that invented Mr Whippy ice cream, she embarked upon a political career.

"By the time she entered Parliament in 1959 she was part of a cohort of only 4% of women in the House of Commons. She had experienced many rebuffs along the way, often on the short list for candidates only to be disqualified by prejudice against a woman - and, worse, a woman with children. But she applied herself to her work with formidable energy and passion, and continued to reflect on how faith and politics related to one another."

In his address, the Rt Rev Chartres expressed sympathy for Lady Thatcher's family and those closely associated with her, saying it must be difficult for them to recognise the "wife, the mother and the grandmother" in the "mythological figure".

"Our hearts go out to Mark and Carol and to their families, and also to those who cared for Lady Thatcher with such devotion, especially in her later years," he said. "One thing that everyone has noted is the courtesy and personal kindness which she showed to those who worked for her, as well as her capacity to reach out to the young, and often also to those who were not, in the world's eyes, 'important'."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT