Illness and Death
On 17 January 2003, Denis Thatcher underwent a six-hour heart bypass operation. He had been complaining of breathlessness in the weeks before Christmas 2002 and the problem was diagnosed in early January. He left the hospital on 28 January 2003, and appeared to have made a full recovery. He visited his son Mark in South Africa in April but by the middle of June, by which time he had turned 88, he again complained of breathlessness and was taken to hospital. There, pancreatic cancer was diagnosed, along with fluid in his lungs. He died on 26 June at Westminster's Lister Hospital in London. Denis and Margaret Thatcher had been married for almost 52 years.
His funeral service was held on 3 July 2003, at the chapel of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, after which his body was cremated at Mortlake Crematorium in Richmond, London. On 30 October a memorial service was held at Westminster Abbey.
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