Frail, her memory failing her, and with few visitors for company, Margaret Thatcher’s final months were a marked contrast to her zenith striding the global stage.
Unable to manage the stairs at her four-storey townhouse, the 87-year-old was recuperating at The Ritz hotel in London following an operation in December to remove a growth in her bladder, when she suffered a final, fatal stroke on Monday.
Her 59-year-old twins Mark and Carol both live abroad and visits from friends were restricted on account of her health.
Only a handful of close friends were allowed up to her suite to see the former British prime minister in her last months.
They told of how the white-haired baroness’s instincts remained sharp, even though her legendary physical and mental stamina had long since faded.
Confidantes recount the sadness of seeing one of the world’s towering post-war figures knowingly struggle to formulate a point, hamstrung by memory loss - with only flashes of the old ‘Maggie’ making it through.