Thatcher dead at 87: images of the Ritz Hotel in London Former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, the controversial "Iron Lady" who dominated a generation of British politics and won international acclaim for helping to end the Cold War, died following a stroke on Monday. She was 87. Britain announced plans for a ceremonial funeral with military honours, although it is a step short of the full state funeral of the kind accorded to monarchs and World War II premier Winston Churchill. Thatcher's spokesman Lord Tim Bell she died while staying at the Ritz Hotel in London. Images of the Ritz hotel where she died