The funeral of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher will take place on Wednesday, April 17, Downing Street has announced.

The 87-year-old former prime minister died on Monday, after suffering a series of strokes.

The funeral ceremony, with full military honours, will take place at London's St Paul's Cathedral, following a procession from Westminster.

The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will attend the service, Buckingham Palace said.

Lady Thatcher will not have a state funeral but will be accorded the same status as Princess Diana and the Queen Mother.

A ceremonial funeral is one rung down from a state funeral - normally reserved for monarchs - and requires the consent of the Queen.

A Downing Street spokesman said the details had been agreed at a "co-ordination meeting" between the Thatcher family and Buckingham Palace on Tuesday morning.

Lady Thatcher, a Conservative, was the UK's first female prime minister. She was in office from 1979 to 1990 and won three successive general elections.

She died "peacefully" after suffering a stroke while staying at the Ritz hotel in central London. Lady Thatcher had been staying at the hotel since being discharged from hospital at the end of last year.

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