THE Queen and the Archbishop of Canterbury have led tributes to Lady Thatcher of Kesteven, who died on Monday morning after a stroke, aged 87. Lady Thatcher was Conservative Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990, the only woman to have held the office. She was raised in Grantham in a devout Methodist family.

The Queen's Private Secretary issued a statement on Monday afternoon saying that the Queen was "sad to hear the news of the death of Baroness Thatcher. Her Majesty will be sending a private message of sympathy to the family."

In a statement issued by Lambeth Palace later the same day, Archbishop Welby expressed sadness at the news, and said that his prayers were with her family and friends. "It is right that today we give thanks for a life devoted to public service, acknowledging also the faith that inspired and sustained her."

Mr Cameron said: "We've lost a great leader, a great Prime Minister, and a great Briton."

MPs and peers were recalled from their Easter recess on Wednesday to pay tribute in special parliamentary sessions.

The leader of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband, said on Monday: "The Labour Party disagreed with much of what she did. . . But we can disagree and also greatly respect her political achievements and her personal strength."

A telegram was sent to Mr Cameron on Monday on behalf of Pope Francis, signed by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State in the Vatican. It said that the Pope was "saddened" to hear of her death. "He recalls with appreciation the Christian values which underpinned her commitment to public service and to the promotion of freedom among the family of nations."

The RC Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Revd Vincent Nichols, said that he was praying "for the repose of her soul and for the intentions of her family and all those who now mourn for her".

Lord Carey, a former Archbishop of Canterbury, told The Daily Telegraph on Monday: "People may differ about her politics - and she divided opinion as any politician does - but there is no doubt that she transformed Britain, she brought back respect, gave us a backbone, and she fought for us."

The Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham James, met Lady Thatcher a number of times when he was chaplain to Archbishop Robert Runcie in the 1980s. He said on Monday: "It was said of Margaret Thatcher that being with her was like being with electricity. She was highly charged, holding strong convictions, and our society changed as a result of her leadership. She will be long remembered, and deservedly so.

"On becoming Prime Minister, she quoted St Francis of Assisi, perhaps surprisingly. It was a reflection of the influence of the Christian tradition on her life and beliefs, something often overlooked."

The Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Revd James Jones, speaking Thought for the Day on Radio 4 on Tuesday, said: "The Thatcher family will know that there will be . . . endless commentary on her life and politics. But this is also a moment for them to be comforted by the convictions of their mother's faith."

The executive director of the Conservative Christian Fellowship, Colin Bloom, said that Lady Thatcher's "Methodist upbringing shone through her; she was particularly fond of a quotation from John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, 'Earn all you can; save all you can; give all you can.' Something which we think might be a fitting epitaph for her."

The President of the Methodist Conference, the Revd Dr Mark Wakelin, said that Lady Thatcher's "roots in a personally responsible Methodist tradition were greatly admired by many".

An address to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1988 was "the first time in living memory that a prime minister had spoken publicly and at length about their personal faith", Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach, a former head of Margaret Thatcher's Downing Street Policy Unit, wrote in The Times on Tuesday.

"She believed that we are created in the image of God, which meant that people and their families could and should be trusted to be responsible. This led her to have a high view of the ability and decency of the 'ordinary' person, which was a major factor behind policies that would empower people and their families, such as the sale of council houses, the creation of grant-maintained schools . . . and lower taxes."

Writing in the Church Times last year, a historian, Antonio E. Weiss, described Lady Thatcher as "the most Christian Prime Minister of the 20th century". She had "sought to link explicitly her political ideology to her Christian faith more than almost any other politician of modern times" (Comment, 20 January 2012).

Additional reporting by Rae Boocock

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