Tags
Baroness Thatcher, Buckingham Palace, Elizabeth II, King Baudouin of Belgium, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of Scotland, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister, Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, United Kingdom of Great Britain, Winston Churchill
This was the message the Queen sent when Margaret Thatcher passed away…
The Queen was sad to hear the news of the death of Baroness Thatcher. Her Majesty will be sending a private message of sympathy to the family.”
This was an interesting statement. Instead of issuing public condolences the queen was moved enough to send private condolences to the family. Also, it is well-known that the queen doesn’t attend funerals unless they are members of her close family. She has only attended the funeral of one other of her Prime Ministers, Winston Churchill, in 1965. She has gone to only one royal funeral that I can think of, and that was the funeral of King Baudouin of Belgium in 1993. Today’s attendance by HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh at the funeral of Baroness Thatcher was a rare and special occasion.
The relationship between the sovereign and his or her Prime Minister is a special and private relationship. In that relationship the monarch is free to participate in their constitutional duty to advise, warn and counsel their Prime Minister. Given that the relationship is private there has been much speculation about the relationship between Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher, the United Kingdom’s first female Prime Minister. As a Conservative Thatcher was a staunch royalist, but because they had such different personalities there were rumors that the two of them often clashed. Those remain rumors and never have been confirmed or denied. It does seem that the queen did have a deep respect for Mrs. Thatcher. Very shortly after Mrs. Thatcher left office in 1990 the queen bestowed upon her the Order of the Garter and the Order of Merit. Her majesty does not often grant awards swiftly in her capacity as the font of all honors. Her awarding these symbols of chivalry does signal that her majesty did indeed have a deep respect for Baroness Thatcher.
One last minor rant from me before I end this topic. There are some people who just do not understand the British political system. When Thatcher was in power, and even after her death, she was often called the first female ruler of either England or the United Kingdom. That is not accurate. She was the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom but prior to that England, Scotland and the United Kingdom were ruled by a Queen (a woman) long before the office of Prime Minister had been created.
European Royal History 
The confusion about her being the “ruler” is more to do with language. She was the first British (or English) Head of Government (HoG) and that should not be confused with the term Head of State (HoS) which is, of course, the Monarch. Having said that, the HoG has all the powers, forms the government whilst the HoS is very much ceremonial (except for signing laws). In most countries, the HoS is a President with power such as the US, it has always been muddled that because the Britsh PM has all the power that she was the country’s leader.
We can add that it is very British. Iin The Netherlands, the PM has most of the power but the King form’s the Government and it is in that Monarch’s name. I said King on purpose as Queen Beatrix is constitutionally “The King”.
Your argument is also very valid, regardless of Thatcher’s powers, Elizabeth, Mary II and Anne were all “Rulers”, though we can say no PM ever stood up to Victoria, the power was in Parliament.
Regards
DC