Today the Queen afforded Baroness Thatcher, easily the greatest of her Prime Ministers since Churchill, a ceremonial funeral in order that her country, indeed the world, could pay her the respect and honour she deserved.

As a young girl growing up, I didn’t have to imagine what it would be like for women to be able to achieve their dreams, I could see what women could achieve if they chose to every time I watched the news on TV.

For so much more than inspiring a generation of little girls to grow up believing we have an equal right to achieve our dreams, today I would like to say “Thank you” to Lady Thatcher. May she finally rest in peace.

By work provided by Chris Collins of the Margaret Thatcher Foundation (Margaret Thatcher Foundation) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;
The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.

I heard my country calling, away across the sea,
Across the waste of waters she calls and calls to me.
Her sword is girded at her side, her helmet on her head,
And round her feet are lying the dying and the dead.
I hear the noise of battle, the thunder of her guns,
I haste to thee my mother, a son among thy sons.

And there’s another country, I’ve heard of long ago,
Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;
We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;
Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;
And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,
And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.
Words by Sir Cecil Spring-Rice, 1921