IT was a time for reminiscences.
There was Geoffrey Howe. White-haired and slumped Heath-like in his seat, occasionally raising his head to smile at a familiar anecdote. And further back was Norman Tebbitt, thinner now and hunched a little.
Yet, conspicuous by their absence were some of the ex-PM's old foes, most notably Michael Heseltine, Nigel Lawson and also Neil Kinnock.
As tributes were paid by the Tory Old Guard, many Labour peers sat, arms folded, enduring what for some was a tortuous ordeal. Yet even the hardest Left-winger might have stifled a laugh at tales recalled.
Lord Hill, the Tory leader in the Upper House, recounted how a colleague tried to ease Mrs Thatcher's nerves before her first speech as Prime Minister at the Tory Party conference.
"Piece of cake, Prime Minister," the colleague said coolly, to which his leader replied: "No, not now, thank you, dear."
Lord Armstrong, the former cabinet secretary, recalled a visit by French leader Francois Mitterand, who said Mrs T had the "eyes of Caligula and the mouth of Marilyn Monroe".
Yet the two leaders hit it off. As Lord Armstrong walked back from the door of No 10 after seeing the president off, he said: "Well, that visit went well, didn't it Prime Minister. And she said: 'I suppose it did.' There was a pause and she said: 'He likes women, you know.'" The chamber erupted.
Lord Tebbit left the Thatcher revolution in 1987 to look after his wife . He admitted it had been a regret to have left Mrs Thatcher "to the mercy of her friends".
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