As Downing Streets announces lavish plans for Baroness Thatcher's funeral, it is revealed that more than half the British public do not think taxpayers should have to pay for the service.
Lady Thatcher said she did not want a state funeral, but she has been given the next highest honour: a ceremonial funeral with full military honours tailored to her.
With all the the pageantry of a state funeral, Wednesday's service is set to be the largest in Britain since the Queen Mother's, bringing to the fore the issue of who will pay.
While her estate will make a contribution, Downing Street has refused to give details about how much the service will cost the taxpayer, saying this will be revealed after the funeral.
But a ComRes survey for the Independent on Sunday and the Sunday Mirror has found that only 25% of people think it should be funded by the public purse - compared to 60% who are against the idea.
The survey also showed that one in three people think she was Britain's greatest peacetime prime minister - although 41% of people disagreed.
Lady Thatcher at a Royal Hospital Chelsea event in 2008 Foreign Secretary William Hague last week defended the funeral costs, amid anger over taxpayers footing bill for recalling Parliament so tributes could be paid to Lady Thatcher.
"The rebate she negotiated for this country from the EU has brought us so far £75 billion - which is twice the size of our annual defence budget," he said.
"I think that puts money in perspective ... so I think we can afford to contribute to a funeral."
The poll comes as the Government released the Order of Service for the funeral at St Paul's Cathedral on Wednesday.
Lady Thatcher's coffin will be carried through the streets of London on a gun carriage, allowing the public to pay their respects as the funeral cortege passes by.
David Cameron will do a Bible reading at the funeral It is the same honour bestowed on Diana, the Queen Mother and Winston Churchill.
Then there will be a single bell will toll as the funeral cortege draws up to St Paul's, and 14 Chelsea pensioners will line the steps as the coffin is taken into the cathedral.
The presence of the pensioners - the oldest aged 90 - is aimed at reflecting the strong connection Lady Thatcher built up with the Royal Hospital Chelsea over the last 10 years.
In front of the coffin, Michael and Amanda Thatcher, grandchildren of the former prime minister, will carry cushions bearing the insignia of the Order of the Garter and the Order of Merit and lay them on the Dome Altar.
The service, attended by the Queen, will be "framed" by British music, with traditional pieces by great British composers played at the beginning and at the end.
Lady Thatcher's love of poetry will be reflected in her choice of TS Eliot's Little Gidding, which will be printed on the opening page of the Order of Service and William Wordsworth's Ode: Intimations of Immortality on the final page.
Prime Minister David Cameron and Amanda Thatcher will deliver the readings from the King James Bible - of which she was particularly fond.
It was confirmed that the hymns will be He Who Would Valiant Be, Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, Psalm 84 set to the music of Johannes Brahms, and the patriotic verse I Vow To Thee My Country.
The funeral address will be delivered by the Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres.
The military procession leading to the service will feature more than 700 serving Armed Forces personnel from units particularly associated with the Falklands War, including some from the Welsh Guards, the regiment that suffered some of the heaviest losses.
:: ComRes interviewed 2,012 Great Britain adults online on April 10 and 11.
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