PHOTO UPDATE @ MARGARET THATCHER'S FUNERAL

Lady Thatcher's coffin is being carried from the Palace of Westminster into the hearse, where it will be taken to the Church of St Clement Danes and transferred to a gun carriage before processing to St Paul's Cathedral.

The hearse passes the gates of Downing Street - Lady Thatcher's home for 11 years from 1979 - when she arrived as prime minister quoting St Francis of Assisi's "Where there is despair let us bring hope" - until her tearful departure after being ejected by her own party in 1990.

 People are standing on nearby pillars and scaffolding to gain a better vantage point of St Paul's. One man has even brought his own ladder. The more fortunate can be seen peering from the windows of the many offices that line the route.

 Prayers are being said by St Clement Danes resident chaplain the Reverend David Osborn as the coffin, draped in a union jack, is transferred to a gun carriage of the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery for the military procession to St Paul's Cathedral.

                                          Lady Thatcher supporters at St Clement Danes.

                        Pall bearers from all three services carry the coffin to the gun carriage.

                                                     The coffin aboard the gun carriage.

Ahead of the funeral procession to St Paul's Cathedral, one protester reminds us that not all wish her well on her final journey. Phil Williams, a former union member from Shotton in north Wales, holds up a large banner that reads: "Rest in shame".

More than 4,000 police officers are on duty - here police motorbikes ride up Whitehall ahead of the procession.

 

R.I.P Thatcher.