“A Proper Send-Off” for Thatcher

Abstract

In this chapter, Hadley considers the ceremonial funeral accorded to Thatcher and the debates surrounding its cost and scale. Hadley analyses the tension between the private, intimate aspects of the funeral and the public elements of it, arguing that it became a national pageant that was less about Thatcher — the woman or the politician — and more about a display of nationalism. From this official display of respectful mourning, the chapter turns to consider the protests at the funeral and the death parties held in former mining communities. Although these celebratory responses are distasteful in burning effigies of Thatcher, Hadley seeks to understand them as a protest against the lasting legacy of Thatcher’s policies.