Remembering Margaret Thatcher: The Iron Lady's Life in Photos

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The Iron Lady has died. Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher suffered a fatal stroke Monday at age 87. To remember Britain’s first—and only—female leader, here’s a look back at her life in photos, beginning with this image taken during her unsuccessful campaign as a Tory candidate for Dartford, Kent, in the 1951 general election. She's pictured with her husband, Denis Thatcher.

AP

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By 1959 Thatcher was a member of Parliament for Finchley and Friern Barnet. Here she is photographed at her Farnborough, Kent, home with her twins, Mark and Carol, age 6.

AP

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In 1972 Thatcher was the secretary of state for education and science. Here, she is speaking at a Conservative Party Conference in Blackpool.

Jamie Hodgson/Getty

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Thatcher meets with U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in 1975 on the balcony of the Capitol with the Washington Monument looming behind them.

Bob Daugherty/AP

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Thatcher responds to a reporter's question during a news conference at the United Nations in 1982.

Gerald Penny/AP

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President Ronald Reagan tours the White House with Thatcher during a visit in the summer of 1982.

Ron Edmonds/AP

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Thatcher and her husband greet the crowd at a polling station in Market Square in June 1983.

John Redman/AP

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This iconic photo of Thatcher was taken during her tenure as prime minister in 1985.

David Montgomery/Getty

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Thatcher addresses the crowd at the annual Conservative Party Conference in Blackpool in October 1985.

David Levenson/Getty

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At the Brussels European Union Summit in 1987, Thatcher meets with French President François Mitterrand; Baudouin I, king of the Belgians; European Commission President Jacques Delors; and French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac.

Thierry Orban

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Thatcher waves to a crowd gathered outside No. 10 Downing Street after a visit with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in 1987.

John Redman/AP

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Thatcher wipes crumbs off a table at 10 Downing Street in 1990. A painting of her predecessor Winston Churchill hangs on the wall behind her.

John Downing/Getty

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Queen Elizabeth II and Thatcher arrive at a dinner to celebrate the former prime minister's 70th birthday in 1995, putting to rest rumors that the two women did not like each other.

ADAM BUTLER

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After being discharged from the hospital, where she was treated for the flu, Thatcher greets the press at her home in 2010. Her 12-day hospitalization had forced Thatcher to miss an 85th-birthday celebration thrown for her at 10 Downing Street.

Dan Kitwood/Getty

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“Margaret Thatcher was a woman: a confounding, irrepressible, flirtatious, stubborn, certitudinous, unabashedly conservative woman,” remembers Tunku Varadarajan. “She was also a patriot, a Briton, and a wife, excelling at the arts that each of those categories demand of a person.”

Gabrielle Crawford/Sygma, via Corbis

Remembering Margaret Thatcher: The Iron Lady's Life in Photos

Britain’s first—and only—female prime minister died Monday at age 87. See iconic images from her life.

The Daily Beast