Editing Harold Macmillan (section)

==Death and funeral==
[[File:St Giles' Church, Horsted Keynes (Macmillan Family Grave).JPG|thumb|right|The Macmillan family graves in 2012 at [[St Giles' Church, Horsted Keynes]]. Macmillan's grave is on the right.]]
Macmillan had often play-acted being an old man long before real old age set in. As early as 1948 [[Humphry Berkeley]] wrote of how "he makes a show of being feeble and decrepit", mentioning how he had suddenly stopped shambling and sprinted for a train. Nigel Fisher tells an anecdote of how Macmillan initially greeted him to his house leaning on a stick, but later walked and climbed steps perfectly well, twice acting lame again and fetching his stick when he remembered his "act". However, in genuine old age he became almost blind, causing him to need sticks and a helping arm.{{sfn|Fisher|1982|pp=361–362}}

On the evening of 29 December 1986, Macmillan died at [[Birch Grove]], the Macmillan family mansion on the edge of [[Ashdown Forest]], in [[Horsted Keynes]], West Sussex.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.sussexlive.co.uk/news/sussex-news/birch-grove-macmillan-jfk-president-6891276|title = Birch Grove: The West Sussex country house once owned by a Prime Minister where JFK stayed the night|last = Fox|first = Thomas|work = Sussex Live|publisher = [[Total Sense Media]]|date = 2 April 2022|accessdate = 24 November 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.newspapers.com/image/751091291/|title = 'Supermac' Is Dead at 92|last = Bates|first = Stephen|newspaper = [[The Daily Telegraph]]|date = 30 December 1986|page = 1|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|accessdate = 5 December 2023|url-access = subscription}}</ref> His grandson and heir [[Alexander Macmillan, 2nd Earl of Stockton|Alexander]], said: "In the last 48 hours he was very weak but entirely reasonable and intelligent. His last words were, 'I think I will go to sleep now'."<ref name="Foster">{{citation|last=Foster|first=Howard|title='I think I will go to sleep now.' Funeral of former premier Harold Macmillan|newspaper=The Times|date=6 January 1987|page=23}}</ref><ref name="Toronto">{{citation|title=British leaders mourn Harold Macmillan|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=6 January 1987|page=A10}}</ref> His lifespan of 92 years and 322 days was the longest of any British prime minister until surpassed by [[James Callaghan]] on 14 February 2005.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/feb/14/past.comment|title = Big Jim was no one's fool|date = 14 February 2005|last = Morgan|first = Kenneth|newspaper = [[The Guardian]]|accessdate = 5 December 2023}}</reF>

Paying tribute, Thatcher hailed Macmillan as "a very remarkable man and a very great patriot", and said that his dislike of "selling the family silver" had never come between them. He was "unique in the affection of the British people".<ref>{{citation|last=Fletcher|first=Martin|title=World pays tribute to Stockton. Death of former Conservative premier|newspaper=The Times|date=31 December 1986}}</ref> Additional tributes came from around the world. US President [[Ronald Reagan]] said: "The American people share in the loss of a voice of wisdom and humanity who, with eloquence and gentle wit, brought to the problems of today the experience of a long life of public service."<ref name="Fletcher" /> Outlawed [[African National Congress]] president [[Oliver Tambo]] sent his condolences: 'As South Africans we shall always remember him for his efforts to encourage the [[apartheid]] regime to bow to the [[Wind of Change (speech)|winds of change]] that continue to blow in South Africa.'<ref name="Fletcher" /> [[Commonwealth Secretary-General]] Sir [[Shridath Ramphal]] affirmed: "His own leadership in providing from Britain a worthy response to African national consciousness shaped the post-war era and made the modern Commonwealth possible."<ref name="Fletcher" />
[[File:Macmillan memorial tablet.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Memorial tablet in [[St Giles' Church, Horsted Keynes]]]]
A private funeral was held on 5 January 1987 at [[St Giles' Church, Horsted Keynes|St Giles' Church]], Horsted Keynes, West Sussex, where he had regularly worshipped and read the lesson.<ref name="Chronicle">{{citation|title=Macmillan Funeral Held – Thatcher Attends Services|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle|date=6 January 1987|page=23}}</ref> Two hundred mourners attended,<ref name="Toronto" /> including 64 members of the Macmillan family, Thatcher and former premiers Lord Home and [[Edward Heath]], as well as Lord Hailsham,<ref name="Foster" /> and "scores of country neighbours".<ref name="Chronicle" /> The [[Charles III|Prince of Wales]] sent a wreath "in admiring memory".<ref name="Foster" /> He was buried beside his wife and next to his parents and his son [[Maurice Macmillan|Maurice]], who had died in 1984.<ref name="Chronicle" />

The House of Commons paid its tribute on 12 January 1987, with much reference made to his book ''[[The Middle Way (book)|The Middle Way]]''.<ref name="Johnson">{{Citation|last=Johnson|first=Frank|title=Tributes to the master of timing|newspaper=The Times|date=13 January 1987}}</ref> Thatcher said: "In his retirement Harold Macmillan occupied a unique place in the nation's affections", while Labour leader [[Neil Kinnock]] struck a more critical note: <blockquote>Death and distance cannot lend sufficient enchantment to alter the view that the period over which he presided in the 1950s, while certainly and thankfully a period of rising affluence and confidence, was also a time of opportunities missed, of changes avoided. Harold Macmillan was, of course, not solely or even pre-eminently responsible for that. But we cannot but record with frustration the fact that the vigorous and perceptive attacker of the status quo in the 1930s became its emblem for a time in the late 1950s before returning to be its critic in the 1980s.<ref name="Johnson" /></blockquote>

A public memorial service, attended by the [[Elizabeth II|Queen]] and thousands of mourners, was held on 10 February 1987 in [[Westminster Abbey]].<ref>''Memorial service for Harold Macmillan, First Earl of Stockton, O.M., P.C.: Tuesday 10 February 1987 12, noon'' (London: Westminster Abbey, 1987).</ref> Macmillan's estate was assessed for probate on 1 June 1987, with a value of £51,114 (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|51114|1987|r=0}}}} in {{Inflation/year|UK}}{{Inflation/fn|UK|df=y}}).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar?surname=Stockton&yearOfDeath=1987&page=2#calendar |title=Stockton, Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of |last=<!--Not stated--> |date=1987 |website=probatesearchservice.gov |publisher=UK Government |access-date=7 April 2020 |archive-date=8 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108140148/https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar?surname=Stockton&yearOfDeath=1987&page=2#calendar |url-status=live }}</ref>