The former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died after suffering a stroke at the age of 87.
Baroness Thatcher served as British leader from 1979 to 1990 and was the first woman to hold the role.
Messages of condolence have begun flooding in for Britain's longest serving Prime Minister of the 20th century.
Darren Mara has this report.
"Where there is discord may be bring harmony. Where there is error may be bring truth. Where there is doubt may we bring faith. And where there is despair may be bring hope."
The words spoken by Lady Thatcher in 1979 as she arrived for the first time at Number 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the British leader.
Born the daughter of a grocer in the market town of Grantham in eastern England, Margaret Thatcher would go on to be known on the world stage as the "Iron Lady".
She won her first parliamentary seat in 1959 and served as Minister of Education under Edward Heath.
After the Heath government fell, she marshalled support to oust him as party leader in 1975 and embarked on a four-year campaign to win the British Prime Ministership.
Behind the bouffant hair, trademark handbag and voice was an uncompromising Conservative who regularly cut her male colleagues and opponents down to size with a sharp tongue and even sharper political brain.
Baroness Thatcher's economic reforms bitterly divided Britain, earning respect from the right and disdain from the left.
As the flag atop Big Ben flew at half mast, the British Prime Minister David Cameron said her passing marks a truly sad day for Britain.
"We've lost a great Prime Minister, a great leader, a great Briton. As our first woman Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher succeeded against all the odds and the real thing about Margaret Thatcher is that she didn't just lead our country, she saved our country and I believe she'll go down as the greatest British peace-time Prime Minister."
This kind of admiration also came from former US President Ronald Reagan - sometimes referred to as Lady Thatcher's political soul mate.
It was their relationship which helped bring down the Iron Curtain of Soviet Communism.
Mr Reagan called her the "best man in England" and she called him "the second most important man in my life."
"You can't help but notice the respect when she addresses a subject and when she speaks. You might say, we wait to hear from her."
But it wasn't only Britain's allies that held Ms Thatcher in such high regard.
Her ideological opponent, the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, says Ms Thatcher will go down in history as a "great politician".
He says this was particularly the case during the Soviet-era perestroika movement for reformation during the 1980s.
"Margaret was a very active partner. She was a woman of conviction, devoted to her ideological vision. And she didn't hide her views. She was always arguing for them. She thought her experience in politics might help us with perestroika."
Lady Thatcher's official biographer, Charles Moore, told the BBC the former leader's legacy would be both ideological and personal.
"It's ideological because she had a very strong positive idea of freedom, freedom on the march, freedom changing the world, freedom defeating Communism, freedom setting the individual free and setting the economy free. And it's transformative in personal terms because she is the first woman and such a strong and unusual character."
Condolences have been streaming in from Europe and around the world after Baroness Thatcher's passing.
Speaking from China, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she'd created history in the UK with her strong and pioneering leadership.
In Australia, the Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said he ranked Baroness Thatcher as among the greatest leaders of recent world history.
A full ceremonial funeral is to be held for Baroness Thatcher at St Paul's Cathedral in London followed by a private cremation.
