The man, who called the children sir and ma'am, was in his element.
Thatcher's children, Sir Mark and Carol, are among those to benefit from the arrangement as it means the overall inheritance tax bill on her £4.7m estate will be reduced.
Her children, Sir Mark Thatcher and his twin sister Carol, and her American grandchildren, Michael and Amanda, listened as the bishop of London, acknowledging the bitter debate over her legacy, said this was not the time or place for such matters.
She wills herself not to die, in part to spite her two estranged children, Sir Basil (Geoffrey Rush), a great actor, and the nervous, unhappy divorcée Dorothy Judy Daviss), both of whom have arrived from Europe to claim what they expect will be a large inheritance.
It's the story of a rich, egocentric old matriarch, Elizabeth Hunter (Charlotte Rampling) and her two expatriate children, Sir Basil Geoffrey Rushh), an actor living in London, and daughter Dorothy Judy Daviss), a divorced French princess living in Paris, who returns to inherit her wealth.
Asked what evidence there was that Sure Start was helping children, Sir Michael replies: "We don't know - that is still lacking".
The union jack draped-coffin was topped with a large bunch of white flowers and a note, by Lady Thatcher's children Sir Mark and Carol, reading: "Beloved mother, always in our hearts".
We've killed women and children, sir. We've killed innocent men.
The descendants of the children Sir Nicholas rescued had by 2009 grown to number 5,000 people.
