Margaret Thatcher Dead: Former British Prime Minister Was 87
The Iron Lady has passed.
Margaret Thatcher, the first-ever female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, has died at 87, her family's rep told
Us Weekly
in a statement on Monday, April 8. "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." the rep said. Thatcher reportedly suffered from Alzheimer's
Disease in the later years of her life.
A member of Britain's Conservative party, Thatcher served as prime
minister from 1979 to 1990, and retired from public life in 1992. She
became a Conservative MP in 1959, served as an education secretary, and
became the leader of her party in 1975.
A political icon of the 1980s, Thatcher worked closely with
President Ronald Reagan's
administration, led the UK during its war with Argentina over the
Falkland Islands in 1982, and helped privatized many state-owned
industries during her reign. Named one of the 100 Most Important People
of the 20th Century
by TIME magazine, she was memorably portrayed by
Meryl Streep, who won another Academy Award, in 2011's
Iron Lady.
Reacting to the news, Buckingham Palace tells
Us: "The
Queen
was sad to hear the news of the Baroness Thatcher. Her Majesty will be
sending a private message of sympathy to the family." Her husband of 52
years, businessman
Sir Denis Thatcher, passed away in 2003.
Read more
here.
