MANCHESTER, England — There is a story about Margaret Thatcher, which is probably apocryphal, but speaks volumes about the strength of Britain’s first female prime minister, who died Monday at age 87.

Following her election in 1979, the story goes that Thatcher took her all-male Cabinet out to dinner. The waiter asked what she would like. “I’ll have the beef,” she said. The waiter asked, “What about the vegetables?” “They’ll have the same,” Thatcher replied.