A fitting reaction or a faux pas? Celebrities respond to Thatcher's death on Twitter

The 'Is Thatcher Dead Yet' website (isthatcherdeadyet.co.uk)

How should one most appropriately mourn the death of Margaret Thatcher?

The question divided celebrities on Twitter yesterday. One Direction heart throb Harry Styles tweeted “RIP Baroness Thatcher .x”, but his tweet landed on deaf ears. One fan replied “it’s market thatcher something to do with our queen (sic)” and another replied “is he your friend”.

But other celebrities who lived through Thatcher’s era (unlike Styles, born 1994) were willing to make more divisive comments about the late Prime Minister:

Some celebrities received a backlash from their gushing tweets about Thatcher. Geri Halliwell wrote: “Sorry if I offended u. X” after she tweeted: “Thinking of our 1st Lady of girl power, Margaret Thatcher, a green grocer’s daughter who taught me any thing is possible…x”

And Katherine Jenkins also chose to remove her comment: “RIP Baroness Thatcher. I will always fondly remember the afternoon tea & chat at your home #GirlPower”

As #thatcherisdead trended on Twitter yesterday, a number of fans mistook the hashtag and thought singer Cher had died.

Ricky Gervais cleared the matter up, tweeting: "Some people are in a frenzy over the hashtag #nowthatcherisdead. It's "Now Thacther's dead. Not, "Now that Cher's dead" JustSayin' "