Editing Margaret Thatcher (section)

===Final years (2003–2013)===
[[File:Margaret Thatcher DF-SD-06-15534.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|alt=Thatcher exiting a limousine on the ramp at Andrews Air Force Base|Arriving for the funeral of President Reagan in 2004]]
On 11&nbsp;June 2004, Thatcher (against doctors' orders) attended the [[Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan|state funeral service for Ronald Reagan]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 June 2004 |title=Thatcher: 'Reagan's life was providential' |url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/11/thatcher.transcript |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109022946/http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/11/thatcher.transcript/ |archive-date=9 November 2017 |access-date=1 November 2008 |publisher=CNN}}</ref> She delivered her eulogy via videotape; in view of her health, the message had been pre-recorded several months earlier.<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 June 2004 |title=Thatcher's final visit to Reagan |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3793565.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330090938/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3793565.stm |archive-date=30 March 2012 |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Russell |first1=Alec |author-link1=Alec Russell |last2=Sparrow |first2=Andrew |name-list-style=amp |date=7 June 2004 |title=Thatcher's taped eulogy at Reagan funeral |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1463874/Thatchers-taped-eulogy-at-Reagan-funeral.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160707040239/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1463874/Thatchers-taped-eulogy-at-Reagan-funeral.html |archive-date=7 July 2016 |access-date=18 July 2016 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> Thatcher flew to California with the Reagan entourage, and attended the memorial service and interment ceremony for the president at the [[Ronald Reagan Presidential Library]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 June 2004 |title=Private burial for Ronald Reagan |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3800315.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016022432/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3800315.stm |archive-date=16 October 2008 |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=BBC News}}</ref>

In 2005, Thatcher criticised how Blair had decided to [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invade Iraq]] two years previously. Although she still supported the intervention to topple Saddam Hussein, she said that (as a scientist) she would always look for "facts, evidence and proof" before committing the armed forces.{{r|grice}} She celebrated her 80th birthday on 13&nbsp;October at the [[Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London|Mandarin Oriental Hotel]] in [[Hyde Park, London]]; guests included the Queen, the [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Duke of Edinburgh]], [[Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy|Princess Alexandra]] and Tony Blair.<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 October 2005 |title=Thatcher marks 80th with a speech |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4329132.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208082439/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4329132.stm |archive-date=8 February 2009 |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=BBC News}}</ref> [[Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon]], was also in attendance and said of his former leader: "Her real triumph was to have transformed not just one party but two, so that when Labour did eventually return, the great bulk of Thatcherism was accepted as irreversible."<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 October 2005 |title=Birthday tributes to Thatcher |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4337404.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061112154711/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4337404.stm |archive-date=12 November 2006 |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=BBC News}}</ref>

{{multiple image
|align=right
|direction=vertical
|title=In the US, 2006
|image1=Thatcher 2006 September 11 event.jpg
|alt1=Thatcher standing with Dick and Lynne Cheney
|caption1=Thatcher (''left''{{--)}} at a Washington memorial service on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks
|image2=Margaret Thatcher 060912-F-0193C-006.jpg
|alt2=Thatcher sharing a laugh with Donald Rumsfeld and Peter Pace
|caption2=With [[Donald Rumsfeld]] and [[General&nbsp;Pace]] at the Pentagon
}}
In 2006, Thatcher attended the [[Patriot Day|official Washington memorial service]] to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the [[9/11 attacks]] on the US. She was a guest of Vice&nbsp;President [[Dick Cheney]] and met Secretary of State [[Condoleezza Rice]] during her visit.<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 September 2006 |title=9/11 Remembrance Honors Victims from More Than 90 Countries |url=http://montevideo.usembassy.gov/usaweb/paginas/2006/06-334EN.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060922193936/http://montevideo.usembassy.gov/usaweb/paginas/2006/06-334EN.shtml |archive-date=22 September 2006 |access-date=1 November 2008 |publisher=US Department of State}}</ref> In February 2007 Thatcher became the first living British prime minister to be honoured with [[Statue of Margaret Thatcher (Palace of Westminster)|a statue]] in the [[Houses of Parliament]]. The bronze statue stood opposite [[Statue of Winston Churchill, Palace of Westminster|that of her political hero, Winston Churchill]],{{r|bronze}} and was unveiled on 21&nbsp;February 2007 with Thatcher in attendance; she remarked in the [[Members' Lobby]] of the Commons: "I might have preferred iron – but bronze will do [...] It won't rust."<ref name="bronze">{{Cite news |date=21 February 2007 |title=Iron Lady is honoured in bronze |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6384029.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307201021/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6384029.stm |archive-date=7 March 2009 |access-date=9 April 2007 |work=BBC News}}</ref>

Thatcher was a public supporter of the [[Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism]] and the resulting Prague Process and sent a public letter of support to its preceding conference.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism |date=9 June 2008 |publisher=[[Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation]] |url=http://www.victimsofcommunism.org/media/article.php?article=3850 |access-date=24 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518124148/http://victimsofcommunism.org/media/article.php?article=3850 |archive-date=18 May 2011}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=October 2024}}

After collapsing at a [[House of Lords]] dinner, Thatcher, suffering [[low blood pressure]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Moore |first=Charles |date=9 March 2008 |title=Thatcher risks becoming a national treasure |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1581197/Thatcher-risks-becoming-a-national-treasure.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020135223/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1581197/Thatcher-risks-becoming-a-national-treasure.html |archive-date=20 October 2017 |access-date=31 May 2017 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> was admitted to [[St&nbsp;Thomas' Hospital]] in central London on 7&nbsp;March 2008 for tests. In 2009 she was hospitalised again when she fell and broke her arm.<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 June 2009 |title=Lady Thatcher treated after fall |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8097018.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111173140/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8097018.stm |archive-date=11 January 2021 |access-date=20 April 2013 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Thatcher returned to 10 Downing Street in late November 2009 for the unveiling of [[Portrait of Margaret Thatcher|an official portrait]] by artist [[Richard Stone (painter)|Richard Stone]],<ref name="ThatcherReturns">{{Cite news |date=23 November 2009 |title=Margaret Thatcher returns to Downing Street |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/margaret-thatcher/6636644/Margaret-Thatcher-returns-to-Downing-Street.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091126182445/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/margaret-thatcher/6636644/Margaret-Thatcher-returns-to-Downing-Street.html |archive-date=26 November 2009 |access-date=22 October 2020 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> an unusual honour for a living former prime minister. Stone was previously commissioned to paint portraits of the Queen and [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Mother]].{{r|ThatcherReturns}}

On 4&nbsp;July 2011, Thatcher was to attend a ceremony for the unveiling of a {{convert|10|ft|m|abbr=on}} statue of Ronald Reagan outside the [[US embassy in London]], but was unable to attend due to her frail health.<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 July 2011 |title=Ronald Reagan statue unveiled at US Embassy in London |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14009137 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111215743/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14009137 |archive-date=11 November 2020 |access-date=22 October 2020 |work=BBC News}}</ref> She last attended a sitting of the House of Lords on 19&nbsp;July 2010,{{sfnp|''Journals of the House of Lords''|2012|ps=, <q>Thatcher, B.</q>}} and on 30&nbsp;July 2011 it was announced that her office in the Lords had been closed.<ref name=telegraph8671195>{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Tim |date=30 July 2011 |title=Baroness Thatcher's office is closed |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8671195/Baroness-Thatchers-office-is-closed.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110731185910/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8671195/Baroness-Thatchers-office-is-closed.html |archive-date=31 July 2011 |access-date=21 August 2011 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> Earlier that month, Thatcher was named the most competent prime minister of the past 30 years in an [[Ipsos MORI]] poll.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stacey |first=Kiran |date=3 July 2011 |title=Thatcher heads poll of most competent PMs |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d4e23a0c-a3f9-11e0-8b4f-00144feabdc0.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712002740/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d4e23a0c-a3f9-11e0-8b4f-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=12 July 2012 |access-date=23 October 2020 |work=Financial Times}}</ref>

Thatcher's daughter Carol [[n:Margaret Thatcher suffering from dementia, says daughter|first revealed]] that her mother had [[dementia]] in 2005,{{r|Langley}} saying "Mum doesn't read much any more because of her memory loss". In her 2008 memoir, Carol wrote that her mother "could hardly remember the beginning of a sentence by the time she got to the end".<ref name="Langley">{{Cite news |last=Langley |first=William |date=30 August 2008 |title=Carol Thatcher, daughter of the revolution |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/profiles/2652365/Profile-Carol-Thatcher-daughter-of-the-revolution.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112112840/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/profiles/2652365/Profile-Carol-Thatcher-daughter-of-the-revolution.html |archive-date=12 November 2012 |access-date=11 February 2013 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> She later recounted how she was first struck by her mother's dementia when, in conversation, Thatcher confused the Falklands and Yugoslav conflicts; she recalled the pain of needing to tell her mother repeatedly that her husband Denis was dead.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Elliott |first=Francis |date=25 August 2008 |title=Margaret Thatcher's struggle with dementia revealed in daughter's memoir |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111317 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170531035605/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111317 |archive-date=31 May 2017 |access-date=7 July 2017 |work=[[The Times]] |via=the Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref>