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Portrait of Margaret Thatcher unveiled in 10 Downing Street

Richard Stone's portrait of Lady Thatcher, unfinished, will be unveiled today (Photo: AFP )

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher returned to 10 Downing Street earlier this week. A portrait of Thatcher, painted by British artist Richard Stone, was unveiled on Wednesday. The artist said he had chosen as a historic portrait that of Mrs. Thatcher after the Falklands war.

While there are photographs of modern prime ministers lining the stairs at 10 Downing Street, only two of the portraits are paintings ? David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill. Stone, an artist who has previously painted the Queen and the Queen Mother, said he chose to paint Thatcher as she looked at the time of the Falklands crisis. Thatcher sent British troops to the Falkland Islands in 1982 after they were claimed by Argentina, with the British prevailing in 74 days. "A defining moment was just after the Falklands War" Stone said. "There was something very distinctive about her look, not just facially but the clothes that she wore, her whole demeanor, and I felt that that was the most appropriate aspect to have recorded for such a historic portrait." Stone's painting shows Thatcher in a big-shouldered dark suit and pearls, not a hair out of place, as was her trademark. "First of all, Lady Thatcher is famous for her beautiful, elegant presentation, a lady who we can all recall as always being very smartly dressed," Stone said. "But behind that it was necessary to record the intelligence, the intellect, the stamina, the strength, the steeliness," he added. Current Prime Minister Gordon Brown is reported to have offered a portrait to Thatcher when she visited him for tea at Number 10 in September 2007, a few months after his election. An anonymous donor paid for the painting. Thatcher, now 83, and suffering from dementia, approved of the painting. "She saw it this morning, and her first words were 'I think it's lovely,' and then after a short pause, she said, 'I think you've made me look so nice,'" Stone said. "I was delighted to hear that, very touched by that". The official events around unveiling, scheduled for Wednesday, were cancelled because of the death of Tory leader David Cameron's six-year-old son Ivan.