(Xinhua File Photo)

LONDON -- British former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke, her spokesman announced Monday.

The spokesman Lord Bell said: "It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning."

Baroness Thatcher was Conservative prime minister from 1979 to 1990. She was the first woman to hold the post, renowned for the nickname of "Iron Lady" worldwide.

Learning her death, British Prime Minister David Cameron expressed "great sadness," adding that "we have lost a great leader, a great prime minister and a great Briton."

A further statement will be made later, according to the spokesman.