Britain’s former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher, recently retired from public speaking after a series of small strokes, carried out a rare engagement late Tuesday to unveil a statue of herself, adorned with its very own sculpted handbag.
“I’m not bound to say anything but you can’t stop a woman, can you?” joked Thatcher after unveiling what she called a “marvellous” statue at its temporary home, the Guildhall Art Gallery in London.
“It’s a little larger than I expected but that’s the way to portray an ex-prime minister who was the first woman prime minister, larger than life.
“And also I was fortunate enough to be there a little longer than most of my former colleagues so perhaps that explains its size,” added Thatcher, who was prime minister from 1979 to 1990.
The white marble statue, measuring eight feet including the plinth, will eventually be displayed in the lower house of parliament.
Thatcher (76) said she had been portrayed in a way that pleased her “very much indeed”, and expressed satisfaction at the statue’s “good, big” handbag.
Britain’s longest-serving prime minister of the 20th century, and its only female premier, was never seen out without her customary handbag while leading the country.
Dubbed the ‘Iron Lady’, Thatcher announced in March that she would retire from public speaking. Her statue, weighing 1,8 tons, was funded by an anonymous benefactor and sculpted by Britain’s Neil Simmons. – AFP