Reviling The Dead

Baroness Thatcher was careful to become involved in anything that mattered to her, from the politics of her country and her refusal to be thwarted, bullied, coerced or tempted by anything that disturbed her vision of the infallibility of her judgement, to the prospect of her death, and what she would wish to be remembered for, celebrated as, and above all, the ceremony that would accompany her funeral upon being dispatched from the living.

Queen Elizabeth II and her royal consort, who thought little of the woman when she was their Prime Minister, will both attend this signal event. A high-level committee executing what has been named Operation True Blue is hard at work putting the finishing touches on the funeral ceremony when Britain and her allies will send their final farewells to this woman both admired and despised.

She is seen at one and the same time as the Mother Theresa of the British economy and the Caligula of labour

The True Blue committee is comprised of MI5, National Security Secretariat, police, Buckingham Palace, Church of England, Parliamentary authorities, government departments, and representatives of Mrs. Thatcher's estate.  Her funeral will be a public and controversial one. There will be objectors, those who have amused themselves by celebrating her death, as a potent reminder of her legacy of scorn by British unions which she attempted to destroy.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - APRIL 08: A lady drinks from a bottle and holds a front page of a newspaper displaying an image of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as she and others celebrate her death in Brixton on April 8, 2013 in London, England. Lady Thatcher has died this morning following a stroke aged 87. Margaret Thatcher was the first female British Prime Minster and governed the UK from 1979 to 1990. She led the UK through some turbulent years and contentious issues including the Falklands War, the miners' strike and the Poll Tax riots. (Photo by Danny E. Martindale/Getty Images)

The funeral will cost over $9-million, but would have cost more but for her request for it to stop short of a full state event, saving the taxpayer another $1.2-million. Dame Thatcher's estate is set to pay for part of the expenses, and the government doubtless the lion's share. But in fact, Britain celebrating itself in this manner is priceless, as it were. Poetry will be read, music played, paying homage to William Wordsworth and Sir Edgar Elgar.

The Guardian newspaper cartoon showed Mrs. Thatcher descending into hell, while the Socialist Worker front page printed "Rejoice". A movie marquee read: "Margaret Thatchers Dead LOL". So much for British dignity and heritage pride, giving no honour whatever to that controversial figure revered and detested. The public is taking no cue from their Queen for whom Mrs. Thatcher was not a beloved figure, but toward whom she is offering honour.

"This really shows the dissimilarity between the two countries", a dual national remarked, who had worked with Mrs. Thatcher after she left office, in academia. "One does not recall, with the passing of controversial figures in the U.S. anything remotely resembling the really crude approach we've seen over here. There is a class ingredient here that we simply don't have in America. They like to perpetuate this; the bitterness goes from father to son."

This is a public that had been through much, and their mean bitterness demonstrates just that; poverty, unemployment, misery. Britain's class system reduced to the establishment versus the unions during the economy-ameliorative reign of Mrs. Thatcher. The harm she did to those who were defenceless has outlived her. Her reputation as a fearless leader who would not back down from any of her positions remains highly admired by others who represent society and politics.

"Having lived in both places, I can see the U.K. is far more deprecating, far more critical, and has far fewer taboos in criticizing leaders. In a way, her death is allowing people to vocalize the sense of frustration they are feeling with the current economic crisis", pointed out Robin Niblett, director of the Chatham House think-tank.

Of course the United States has its notorious Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church to attend funerals of American servicemen and hold up obnoxious signs. Britain has its unionists who will picket Dame Thatcher's funeral carrying signs reading "Good Riddance".