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Former Tory Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher celebrates her 80th birthday with more than 650 guests at a dinner in Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London's Hyde Park.

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Lady Thatcher appeared frail as she was helped from her car into the hotel, amid the glare of flash bulbs.

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The Queen, who held hundreds of weekly meetings with Baroness Thatcher during her time in Downing Street, arrives at the party.

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Sir Mark Thatcher is on hand to show support for his mother

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Showbiz stars such as Andrew Lloyd Webber rubbed shoulders with Lady Thatcher's family members, including daughter Carol.

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Lady Thatcher's immediate successor as prime minister, Sir John Major, arrives with wife Norma.

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Singer Dame Shirley Bassey adds a dash of glitz to the proceedings.

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Joan Collins, star of 1980s TV soap Dynasty, says of Lady Thatcher: "She is the Iron Lady and I want to be just like that when I grow up."

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Outgoing Conservative leader Michael Howard and wife Sandra were invited - as were two of the contenders for his job, David Davis and Liam Fox.

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Prime Minister Tony Blair - like Baroness Thatcher the winner of three general elections - and wife Cherie make a brief appearance.

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President Bush congratulated Baroness Thatcher by phone before the festivities got under way.