A gun carriage bearing Baroness Thatcher's coffin is making its way to St Paul's Cathedral in a ceremonial procession to her funeral. The 1st Battalion Welsh Guards formed an honour guard, as church bells tolled. Crowds watched in respectful silence as the procession began, accompanied by the Royal Marines band. Some 2,300 people, from 170 countries, are expected to attend the funeral. The Queen will be among them. Four thousand police are on duty in central London but there have been few signs of protests. Lady Thatcher's hearse was flanked by police outriders as it left Parliament, where her body lay overnight, to travel to St Clement Danes, the RAF church on The Strand, where it was transferred to a gun carriage. A white floral arrangement on top of the funeral bore a card reading: "Beloved mother, always in our hearts." Prayers were said by St Clement Danes' resident chaplain the Rev David Osborn. Members of all three services and 16 Chelsea pensioners will line the steps of St Paul's as the coffin borne into the cathedral. 'Sombre event' Lady Thatcher, who was Conservative Prime Minister from 1979 until 1990, died on 8 April, following a stroke, at the age of 87.
