Behind the smile, a tough leader.

With steely determination, Margaret Thatcher sent a task force to re-take the Falklands, or the Malvinas, from Argentina in 1982.

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev described her as 'a woman of conviction'.

Her softer side saw her chatting amicably with Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping and, with Ronald Reagan, strengthening the special relationship between Britain and the US.

But her belligerent attitude to Europe may prove to be the Iron Lady's most enduring legacy.