Lady Thatcher is to spend the night in a London hospital after breaking her arm in a fall.

The former prime minister, who is 83, slipped and fell this morning at her home in Belgravia and was taken by ambulance to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital where doctors said that she had broken a bone in her upper arm.

A few hours later her office said that she was feeling "perfectly fine" and would be back home this afternoon, but the doctors treating her decided to keep her in for observation.

"The hospital’s decided, just to be sure, to keep her in for observation," her spokeswoman said. "It’s a simple fracture, but bearing in mind who she is, she’s 83 and the shock to the system, it’s just belt and braces.

"There is nothing untoward."

Lady Thatcher has suffered a series of strokes in recent years which have affected her memory but still enjoys a hectic schedule. Last week she met the Pope in the Vatican and earlier this week she was at the Carlton Club to mark the 30th anniversary of her election as Britain's first woman prime minister.

Last summer Lady Thatcher’s daughter spoke for the first time about the ex-premier’s battle with dementia. Carol Thatcher said her mother now struggles to finish sentences, does not know where she lives and even forgets that her husband Denis is dead.

Several years ago, on advice from doctors, Lady Thatcher cut down her commitments and all but stopped speaking in public. However, she continues to attend ceremonial functions and remains a famous figure both in the Conservative Party and the country.

During her time in office, Margaret Thatcher was known as a tough workaholic who needed little sleep. She swept to power in 1979 and went on to become the UK’s longest-serving prime minister of the 20th century, forced from office in a party coup in November 1990.

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