The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh are to attend the funeral of Baroness Thatcher next Wednesday, it was announced today.

The ceremony, expected to be attended by dignitaries from around the world, will be held at St Paul's cathedral.

A Downing Street spokesman said the date had been agreed at a "co-ordination meeting" with the Thatcher family and Buckingham Palace this morning.

A statement from the Palace said: "The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will attend the funeral service of Baroness Thatcher at St Paul's Cathedral next Wednesday."

The former Prime Minister has been granted a ceremonial funeral with full military honours - the same status that was accorded the Queen Mother and Diana, Princess of Wales.

The streets will be cleared for a procession taking her body from parliament to St Paul's. She will be cremated at a private service afterwards.

There have been calls for Lady Thatcher to be given a state funeral, as wartime leader Winston Churchill was.

However, friends have indicated that she did not want such treatment, and specified that she did not want to lie in state.

Parliament is expected to be suspended for the funeral, meaning the first Prime Minister's Questions session since the Easter break could be cancelled.