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Chancellor's tears for his idol: Osborne unable to control his emotions on what he described



An emotional George Osborne wiped away a tear during Margaret Thatcher's funeral as the great and the good gathered at St Paul's Cathedral to bid farewell to the Iron Lady.

The Chancellor was visibly moved during the early stages of the service paying tribute to Britain's first female Prime Minister.

He later hinted at his dramatic moment of emotion, writing on Twitter that it had been a 'moving, almost overwhelming day'.


Prime ministers past and present joined world leaders, former Cabinet colleagues and some of the key figures who played a role Lady Thatcher's downfall more than two decades ago.

Political friends and foes were among the 2,300 mourners who came together to mark the passing of the longest serving Premier for 150 years.

Last week Mr Osborne hailed Lady Thatcher as 'a great prime minister — probably the greatest in our peacetime history'.

He added: 'We are fortunate to live in a country she did so much to transform.

'I don’t think that we in this generation of politicians need to be unsettled by living in her shadow. We do live in her shadow and we should just embrace it.


'She was a great prime minister - probably the greatest in our peacetime history - and we are fortunate to live in a country she did so much to transform.'

Today David Cameron, who gave a reading during the service, declared 'we're all Thatcherites now' as he hailed the Iron Lady's legacy as irreversible.



The Chancellor hinted at his moment of emotion later in a tweet


Cameron and Osborne heard in the service about the life of Margaret Hilda Roberts, who was born in 1925 in Grantham and became one of the most influential figures of the 20th century after entering politics in the 1950s





Sir Francis Maude appears to wipe away a tear during service while a stern-looking William Hague looks on




Prime Minister David Cameron appears to wipe away a tear as he stands with his wife Samantha and former Prime Minister John Major at the service





The guest list included all 32 members of the current British Cabinet and 30 former members of Lady Thatcher's Cabinets from her premiership from 1979 to 1990.

The presence of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh effectively elevated the occasion to a state funeral.


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United in grief, a family guard of honour: Carol and Mark watch on the steps of St Paul's as their mother's coffin leaves after service
DOMINIC SANDBROOK: For all the tasteless antics of the past week, yesterday belonged to the silent majority
QUENTIN LETTS: Old friends, old foes, now united in old age and on parade for Thatcherdom's last hurrah
MIDAS EXTRA FUND FOCUS: Experts debate the fall in the price of gold, is now the time to invest?
Magnificent interactive panorama of Baroness Thatcher's funeral procession: View the cortege arriving at St Paul's in '360 degree' picture

International guests included 11 serving Prime Ministers from across the globe and 17 serving Foreign Ministers. In total 170 countries were represented.




The coffin is presented in front of the 2,300 mourners within St Paul's Cathedral



Great and the good: The entire Cabinet and dozens of senior politicians were among the mourners

Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha arrived for the service, joining world leaders and Baroness Thatcher's friends and relatives





Former Prime Ministers John Major and Tony Blair with their wives Norma Major and Cherie Blair joined the Queen in the ceremony




Chancellor George Osborne and his wife Frances Osborne arrive ahead of the emotional service, where he and David Cameron shed a tear


While most guests observed the dress code to wear traditional morning dress with black waistcoat and tie, some sartorial choices raised eyebrows.

International Development minister Alan Duncan borrowed an official uniform of the Privy Council, a body of advisors to the Queen made up of senior MPs and peers.

With gold embroidery and buttons, Mr Duncan's outfit drew admiring glances in stark contrast to the crumpled blue suit of London Mayor Boris Johnson.

Former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown also wore a lounge suit, instead of the traditional tails.






Compare and contrast: International development minister Alan Duncan drew admiring glances for his decision to wear the full uniform of a member of the Privy Council, in stark contrast to Boris Johnson's crumpled navy blue suit





All ears: (From left to right) Former Prime Minister John Major, Samantha Cameron and Prime Minister David Cameron listen attentively during the funeral service of Baroness Thatcher

The funeral brought together political friends and foes, who shared pews as they paid tribute to the UK's first female prime minister.

Former Labour prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown rubbed shoulders with Baroness Thatcher's successor Sir John Major.

But even old enemies like Cherie Blair and her husband's successor put their differences aside for the occasion, and were even seen to embrace each other at the ceremony.

Alongside these rivalries were figures who crossed the Baroness in her lifetime.

'AN OVERWHELMING DAY' : QUENTIN LETTS ON AN EMOTIONAL CHANCELLOR



Mr Osborne, seated behind Samantha Cameron and Sir John Major, raised his right hand to dry his cheek

Though only a robot can claim never to cry, no Englishman likes to do so as publicly as an emotional George Osborne did at Lady Thatcher’s funeral yesterday.

We feel a sting of shame – but then catharsis, our emotional gutters having been given a good wash.

The Chancellor was seen to wipe away a tear in St Paul’s Cathedral, visibly moved by proceedings. He later hinted at his dramatic moment of emotion, writing on Twitter that it had been a ‘moving, almost overwhelming day’.

To water up so openly might be thought weak and womanly – histrionic, even, if we contemplate some ululating Latin ever bewailing his lot.

But the rarer the tears, the more potent they can be.

After all, would we really want a Chancellor who was incapable of sorrow? In my view, it can be the making of a man of a certain age to be seen ‘emoting’ in public, when the circumstances call for it.

Recently my wife and I were at a school concert. Without warning our 15 year-old son clambered on stage and sang a solo with his electric guitar. He has been playing the instrument for only a couple of years and we had no idea he was capable of such a performance.

Claud has had a few problems in life – he has autism, which can stifle a child’s social confidence and communicative abilities.

To see our fine boy stand there and belt out KT Tunstall’s Suddenly I See, bending his spine as he reached for artistic expression, was a lip-wobbler for me. Suddenly I saw. I saw him as a success, as a lad with prospects.

Tears dripped off my cheeks, raindrops off a sycamore leaf.

Typical theatre luvvie, you might think. As the Mail’s drama critic I am frequently a bit damp around the optics. All those musicals. I have become as leaky as a punctured garden hose. Or is it age? Parenthood does it to you.

The other Sunday my teenage daughter read the lesson in church – that passage about Doubting Thomas recognising Christ and gasping, ‘my Lord and my God!’ She read it so beautifully, with such grace, I was a-jibber.

At funerals the Prayer Book’s ancient sentences as the priest enters always make the spine tingle but tears prickle when it comes to singing. Such memories can be evoked.

Sunset and Evening Star, to Parry’s tune, is how we saluted my father’s silent coffin. Remembrance Day’s O Valiant Hearts is always a challenge.

We may not know, we cannot tell, why George Osborne wept yesterday. Was it purely for Mrs T or had the majesty of her funeral reactivated some more personal sadness? Perhaps both.

I last had to reach for a discreet hanky when at the superb West End production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (which, as it happens, is about autism).

The convenient thing about theatres, like most churches, is that the layout of the seating means only your neighbours can see that your goggles are filling with briny. Social embarrassment averted.

Unless, of course, you are Chancellor and a national TV camera is filming your every moment.



Differences aside: Former political foes Gordon Brown and Cherie Blair put on friendly faces during the solemn occasion



Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah both wore black as a mark of respect to the former Conservative leader



Leader of the Labour Party Ed Miliband with his barrister wife Justine Thornton joined a host of other politicians to pay their last respects





Gathered together: (From left) Leader of the Labour Party Ed Miliband, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and former Prime Minister Tony Blair and Gordon Brown talked before the grand ceremony began



William Hague, who made his first speech for the Conservative's aged 16 at their national conference, and wife Ffion attended

Among the mourners were Lord Heseltine and Lord Howe, who famously helped to bring about the demise of the Iron Lady's premiership.

However, the funeral was attended by a huge number of the Baroness' friends and political allies who had stayed loyal to her and her policies.

Among them were foreign secretary William Hague, who defended the decision to use public money to pay for the service, and Conrad Black, who has praised her for being a great reformer of the UK.

Michael Howard, who earned Lady Thatcher's respect by helping to guide in a new finance act which brought in her new system of 'poll tax', also attended the funeral, along with his wife Sarah.







Former Lord Howe, who savaged Baroness Thatcher in his Commons resignation speech in 1990 and Lord Heseltine who challenged her for the Tory leadership



Her close friends Lord and Lady Archer, who commented on the powerful politician's failing memory last month, also attended.

However, some people could not hide their feelings - Speaker John Bercow's wife Sally, a committed Labour supporter, refused to attend the ceremony.


Sarah, Duchess of York, was among the first to arrive at St Paul's Cathedral for the ceremonial funeral.

The former wife of the Duke of York, wearing a black dress and matching hat, arrived at around 9.15am, shortly after the cathedral doors opened.



Former Conservative leader Michael Howard, who helped minimise the Conservative party's rebellion against the poll tax when it was introduced, and wife Sarah were among the hundreds of mourners

Margaret Thatcher's former chief press secretary and former head of the Government Information Service, Bernard Ingham, arrives






Former Conservative cabinet ministers Douglas Hurd and Michael Portillo sat in the pews as the service - understood to be planned by Baroness Thatcher herself - began


The former chairman of Sotheby's and minister Lord Gowrie, who famously resigned from Government because he said his salary wasn't enough to live on in London, arrived to pay his respects



Former Conservative MP Michael Portillo (centre) and former Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil (left) were smartly dressed as they joined dignitaries and world leaders for the funeral

Other senior UK politicians included Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones and Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson.

US President Barack Obama, who paid fulsome tribute to Lady Thatcher, was unable to attend in the wake of the Boston Marathon terror attack.

The White House's official delegation was led by George Shultz and James Baker, who both served as secretaries of state during the Thatcher era.


Other Americans at the service included Republican politician Newt Gingrich, former vice president Dick Cheney and former U.S. Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger.




Both clad in black, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip stand outside St Paul's Cathedral. Her Majesty has only ever attended one other 'commoner' funeral - that of Sir Winston Churchill








Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper attended the funeral of the Iron Lady, who has been praised as one of the UK's great reformers






Israel's Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and Australia's former prime Minister John Howard (right) were among the many foreign dignitaries who came

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