<P> Upon retirement, it is customary for the Sovereign to grant a Prime Minister some honour or dignity . The honour bestowed is commonly, but not invariably, membership of the United Kingdom's most senior order of chivalry, the Order of the Garter . The practice of creating a retired Prime Minister a Knight (or, in the case of Margaret Thatcher, a Lady) of the Garter (KG and LG respectively) has been fairly prevalent since the mid-19th century . On the retirement of a Prime Minister who is Scottish, it is likely that the primarily Scottish honour of Knight of the Thistle (KT) will be used instead of the Order of the Garter, which is generally regarded as an English honour . </P> <P> Historically it has also been common for Prime Ministers to be granted a peerage upon retirement from the Commons, which elevates the individual to the House of Lords . Formerly, the peerage bestowed was usually an earldom, with Churchill offered a dukedom . </P> <P> From the 1960s onward, life peerages were preferred, although in 1984 Harold Macmillan was created Earl of Stockton . Sir Alec Douglas - Home, Harold Wilson, James Callaghan and Margaret Thatcher accepted life peerages, although Douglas - Home had previously disclaimed his hereditary title as Earl of Home . Edward Heath did not accept a peerage of any kind and nor have any of the Prime Ministers to retire since 1990; although Heath and John Major were later appointed as Knights of the Garter . </P> <P> The most recent Prime Minister to die was Margaret Thatcher (served 1979--1990) on 8 April 2013, aged 87 . </P>

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