>> in london on wednesday, thousands gathered at st. paul's cathedral for the funeral service for former british prime minister margaret thatcher. queen elizabeth the second, former british prime ministers tony blair and gordon brown and foice president dick cheney attended. the bbc's david dimbleby posted the coverage. this is just over an hour. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captions performed by national captioning institute] it is 11:00 a.m. the congregation will stand. many services have been performed here in st. paul's cathedral.

the music of david croft. ♪ ♪

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♪ they are directly under the dome of st. paul's cathedral. the service begins with the reverend david -- of st. paul's cathedral.

>> we come to this cathedral today to remember before god, margaret thatcher. to give thanks for her life and work and commend her into god's hands. he recalled with great gratitude her leadership of this nation. her courage. her steadfastness. and her resolve to accomplish what she believed to be right for the common good. we remember the values by which she lived. the ideals she embraced. her dignity, her diligence, her courtesy, and her personal concern for the well-being of individuals. as we remember, so we rejoice in the lifelong companionship she enjoyed with dennis and we pray

for her family, her friends and for all who mourn her passing. we continue to pray for this nation, giving thanks for the traditions of freedom, for the rule of law, and for parliamentary democracy. remembering the parts we have played in peace and conflict over many centuries and all parts of the world. praying for all today who suffer in sorrow, in sickness, poverty, oppression, or despair. in harmony and truth, we may seek to be channels of christ's face, hope, and compassion. to all the world. joining our prays

we say: our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. give us this day, our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. amen.

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>> after those stiring words, ethesians read by amanda thatcher. >> finally, my brothers and sisters, be strong in the lord and in the power of his might. put on the whole armor of god, that he may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. for be wrestful against principalities, against power, against the rulers of the darkness of this world. against spiritual wickedness in high places.

wherefore take unto you the whole armor of god that he may be able to withstand in the evil day. and having done all, to stand, person out of truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness. and your feet shod the -- with the preparations of the gospel of peace. above all, taking the shield of faith for which you shall be able to quench all the fiery dark of the wicked. and take the helmet of salvation and the sword and the spirit which is the word of god. praying always, all prayer and supplication in the spirit.

and watching their unto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. ch amanda now the anthem "hear my prayer, oh lord." by henry percil. this is taken from psalm 102. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ >> let not your heart be troubled. you believe in god, believe also in me. in my father's house are many mansions. if it were not so, i would've

told you. i go to prepare a place for you. if i go and prepare a place for you, i wil again receive you unto myself. that where i am, there ye may be also. and whither i go, he knows, and the way he knows. thomas says unto him, we know not whether thou goest, and how can we know the way? jesus saith unto him, i am the way, the truth, and the light. no man cometh unto the father but by me. >> the anthem that follows is chosen by lady thatcher for the service at her husband's funeral, sir denis thatcher. "how lovely is thy dwelling

place, lord of hosts." music byrahms, t worro psalm 84. ♪ how lovely is thy dwelling place o lord of hosts!

for my soul, it lon, yea fainteth, for the courts of the lord my soul and body crieth out yea for the living god how lovely is thy dwelling place o lord of hosts! blest are they that dwell within thy house, they praise thy name evermore how lovely is thy dwelling place!

how lovely is your dwelling place o lord almighty my soul yearns even faints for the courts of the lord my heart and my flesh constitutional right ow for the living god even the sparrow has found a home and the swallow a northwest for herself where she may have her young a place near your altar o lord almighty my king and my god

blessed are those who dwell in your house they are ever praising you blessed are those whose strength is in you who have set their hearts on pilgrimage as they pass through the valley of baca they make it a place of springs the autumn rains all also cover it with pools they go from strength to strength till each appears before god in zion

hear my prayer o lord god almighty listen to me, o god of jacob look upon our shield, o god look with favor on your anointed one better is the day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere i would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my god than dwell in the tents of the wicked

♪ for the lord god is a sun and a shield the lord bestows favor and honor no good thing does he withhold from those who walk blameless o lord almighty blessed is the man who trusts in you ♪ >> now the address which is given by a friend of the thatcher family and of lady thatcher, the bishop of london, right honorable richard -- >> for the light of the life lived in the heat of great political croffer, there is -- controversy, there is a great calm.

the storm of conflicting opinions centers on the mrs. thatcher who became a symbolic figure, even an -ism. today, they remains of the real margaret hilda thatcher are here at her funeral service. lying here she is one of us, stiny t to cmon of all human beings. there is an important place for debating policies and legacies, for assessing the impact of political decisions on the everyday lives of individuals and communities. parliament held a frank debate last week. here and today is neither the time nor the place. this, at lady thatcher's personal request, is a funeral service, not a memorial service with the customer eulogies. -- with the customary eulogies.

at such a time, the past should not aspire to the judgments which are proper to the politician. instead, this is a place for ordinary human compassion of the kinds that is reconciling. it is splace where the simple truths which transcend political debate and above all, it is the place for hope. it must be very difficult for those members of her family and those closely associated with her to recognize the wife, mother, and grandmother in the mythological figure. our hearts go out to mark and carol and their families and also to those who cared for lady thatcher with such devotion, especially in her later years.

one thing that is noted is the courtesy and personal kindness which she showed to those who worked for her. as well as her capacity to reach out to the young and often also to those who were not in the world eyes important. a letter from a young boy early on in her time of prime minister is a typical example. 9-year-old david wrote to say, "last night when we were saying prayers, my daddy said everyone has done wrong things except jesus. i said, i don't think you have done bad things because you are the prime minister. am i right or is my daddy?" [laughter] the most remarkable thing is

minter ied in her own hand, in a very straightforward letter which took the question seriously. she said, however good we try to be, we can never be as kind, gentle, and wise as jesus. there will be times when we do or say something we wish we had not done and we shall be sorry and try not to do it again. she was always reaching out, trying to help in characteristically uncoded terms. i was once sitting next to her at some city function and in the midst of describing how high its -- how hyatt rose to serfdom and rose, she suddenly grasped my wrist and said very emphatically, don't touch the duck pate. it is very fattening. [laughter] she described her own religious upbringing in a lecture she

gave. she said she often went to church, twice on a sunday, as well as on other occasions during the week. we were taught there, always to make up our own minds and never take the easy way of following the crowd. her upbringing of course was in methodism, to which this country owes a huge debt. when it was time to challenge the political and economic status quo in 19th-century britain, it was so often the methodists who took the lead. she told pabo m -- were led not by marxists, but by methodist preachers. today's first lesson describes the struggle with the prince policies and powers and perseverance in struggle and the courage to be the characteristic of margaret thatcher. in a setting like this in the presence of the leaders of the nations and many representatives

of nations and countries throughout the world, it is easy to forget the immense hurdles she had to climb. beginning in the upper floors of her father's grocers shop, through oxford as a scientist and later as part of the team that invented mr. whippy's ice cream, she embarked upon a politicalca by the time she entered parliament in 1959, she was part of only four percent of women in the house of commons. she had experienced many rebuffs along the way, often on the short list of candidates, only to be disqualified by prejudice against a woman and worse, a woman with children. she applied herself to her work with formidable energy and passion, and continued to reflect reflect on her faith and politics,