Mourners, protesters at Thatcher funeral

Britain will pay its final respects to Baroness Thatcher at Wednesday's funeral. Source: AAP

MOURNERS, as well as protesters, have gathered for the funeral of Britain's first female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, as the debate over her legacy continues.

At least a thousand people had gathered outside St Paul's Cathedral, where the funeral service began at 11am (2000 AEST) on Wednesday. Many had camped overnight to secure a place.

Doors to St Paul's Cathedral, where the funeral service of Baroness Thatcher was held, opened at 9am, shortly after flags were lowered to half-mast at government buildings.

Trevor Fearon, 83, and his wife Doreen, 85, had travelled from West Kensington in west London to see the procession.

"Mrs Thatcher was a gutsy woman, especially over the Falklands," said Fearon, who worked in the exhibition industry."

Waiting in Whitehall - part of the route her coffin will take on its journey to St Paul's - were Brighton University students Rebecca May, 21, and Javiar Mansell, 20.

May said: "I feel people protesting should remember Lady Thatcher was a mother and a grandmother."

Mansell said: "I don't think people my age have the right to protest about her policies.

"We are here out of respect. Also, it's a historic event."

Looking on in Whitehall was Australian mother-of-two Geraldine Fenn, 47, who was in London for her husband's business conference.

"I remember Margaret Thatcher in a very positive light," said Fenn, who is from Melbourne.

"I know there were difficulties over the miners but as I grew older I realised that Britain needed to change."

Alan Southern, 53, was joined by a smartly dressed band of colleagues from the Parachute Regiment in attending the funeral to show his respect.

Southern, who fought in the Falklands War as a 23-year-old and met Lady Thatcher four times, said: "I have no interest at all in what the demonstrators say.

"When we came out for the Remembrance Parade they were all shouting. It's the only day of the year anyone listens to them. They have to remember we fought for them to have the right to do it.

"Lady Thatcher was an absolutely wonderful lady. She loved the armed forces and she did so much for the country, she put the 'great' back in Great Britain."

"She came to power in a man's world and she won," said 58-year-old chef John Loughrey. "Everything she fought for, she won. She was a great politician. We were living in the dark and she brought us back to the light."

Nearby, a small group of protesters arrived to demonstrate against the "idolisation" of Thatcher. Up to 200 demonstrators were expected to join them, said Dave Winslow, a student from the northern city of Durham.

The reported STG10 million ($A14.90 million) cost of a funeral for such a divisive figure was "wrong", he said, "especially when austerity is being imposed on the poor."

The protesters planned to turn their backs as the funeral procession passed.

Patricia Welsh, a 69-year-old retired youth worker, joined the Facebook-organised demonstration at the junction of Ludgate Hill and Ludgate Circus in central London.

She said: "I am absolutely furious that Prime Minister David Cameron has decided to spend 10 million on a funeral when normal people are having to face cutbacks, libraries are closing and the NHS is being cut - for the funeral of a Conservative woman.

"Like anyone else she deserves a decent funeral, but not at the expense of the taxpayer."

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