![Baroness Thatcher death]()
Baroness Thatcher left instructions that the current prime minister should give a reading at her funeral, it has been reported.
Britain's first and only female PM will be given a ceremonial funeral with full military honours at St Paul's Cathedral on Wednesday, which will be attended by the Queen.
It is the same status as that accorded to the Queen Mother and Diana, Princess of Wales, although some Tories want a full state ceremony.
Her friends and family indicated that Lady Thatcher said she did not want such treatment; she did not want to lie in state and thought a fly-past would be a waste of money.
But there were far more details left by Lady Thatcher on how she thought her memorial service should be carried out, according to The Daily Telegraph.
They were said to include the choice of hymns - among them the patriotic I Vow to Thee, My Country - and readings from the Bible.
She specified that the prime minister at the time of her death should read a lesson from the Gospels.
Her choice of reading was John 14.1, which says: "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.
"I go to prepare a place for you."
Another lesson will be read by Lady Thatcher's 19-year-old granddaughter Amanda, the Telegraph said.
The service will also include readings from the Book of Common Prayer, including the burial prayer that begins: "Man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live and is full of misery. He cometh up and is cut down like a flower."
There will be the traditional reading for meeting the body arriving at a church, which begins: "I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord. He that believeth in me, yea, though he were dead, yet shall he live."
Among the other hymns selected by Lady Thatcher are John Bunyan's To Be A Pilgrim and Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.
It has also been announced that MPs and peers will be able to pay their respects to Lady Thatcher in Parliament's Chapel of St Mary Undercroft on the eve of her funeral.
The chapel will be open on Tuesday evening so members and staff from both Houses can visit the former prime minister's coffin.
Around 100 people, mainly family members and MPs, will also be invited to a short service led by the Dean of Westminster welcoming Lady Thatcher's body.
