Statement of intent: To witness and record a most unusual historic event – a funeral with protestors.
Margaret Thatcher died of a stroke at The Ritz Hotel in London on 8 April 2013 at the age of 87. Planning for the funeral began in 2009 and was codenamed ‘True Blue’. Details of the funeral had been agreed with Mrs T in advance. Thatcher had chosen the hymns and had vetoed a state funeral; reasons included cost, parliamentary deliberation, and that it suggested similar stature to Churchill – with which she disagreed. Instead with her and her family’s agreement, she received a ceremonial funeral, including military honours, a guard of honour, and a service at St Paul’s Cathedral. The arrangements were similar to those for the Queen Mother and Diana, Princess of Wales.
The estimated cost to the taxpayer was up to £10 million and criticised by public figures including the Bishop of Grantham, Lord Prescott and George Galloway MP. In fact the total public spending on the funeral was £3.6 million, largely the costs of police and security. Anticipating possible protests and demonstrations along the route, police mounted one of the largest security operations since the 2012 Summer Olympics.
The funeral would be photographed by thousands of professional photographers and major television companies. Millions of people would record the spectacle using their mobiles, iPads and cameras. My interest lay in the protestors and what possesses someone to protest at a funeral? A few hundred people turned up to protest, some shouting and many turning their backs to the passing hearse. I found a subtle political humour in the No U Turn signs that were visible on the many traffic lights that surrounded the protestors. The Lady Is Not ReTurnin’ came from a protestor’s banner.
I like the limited timescale (just over 4 hours) for a small personal project. It was an event that could not be repeated and that gave an impetus to creating the images.
