MAIL ONLINE: Baroness Thatcher died at London's Ritz hotel after suffering a stroke / Had been recuperating at five star hotel after spending Christmas in hospital / Former prime minister was rarely seen in public in recent years / Had been in fragile health since suffering series of strokes in 2002 / Daughter Carol rushed home from Klosters, Switzerland yesterday
Baroness Thatcher died today in the luxury suite at the Ritz where she had spent months recuperating after an operation.
Britain's first and only female prime minister, who passed away peacefully at the age of 87 after suffering a massive stroke, had checked into the five star hotel at the start of the year following minor surgery on her bladder over Christmas.
While a close-knit circle of friends took it in turns to visit the increasingly frail 87-year-old at the Belgravia hotel - a long-time favourite of the former leader's - it was a solitary start to what would prove to be her final few months.
She had been due to spend Christmas Day with her niece Jane Mays, who lives in north east London, but was admitted to hospital five days earlier for minor surgery to remove a growth on her bladder.
Her daughter Carol Thatcher, 59, was understood to be at her side in the hospital at Christmas time.
After being discharged Baroness Thatcher was checked straight into a suite at the hotel in Belgravia amid concerns she would no longer be able to manage the stairs at her elegant four storey mansion.
Staff at the hotel had invited her to make the Ritz her home for the foreseeable future, and her carers are understood to have been taking it in turns to stay with the 87-year-old. » | Kerry McDermott | Monday, April 08, 2013
