Yep, I get what you all mean about the comparison not being perfect, I just don't think I can think of an equivalent who has died in the advent of social media that could help you understand how many people feel towards Thatcher.
christmascarol is correct in what I was trying to get at is that many hold her responsible for the deaths of those in the Falklands war. Her policies on Ireland are another that many would feel caused deaths and the lady herself, I feel, was most unsympathetic to the relatives of the Falklands dead so I can't see why others should afford her more respect now.
Having said that, and as we're speaking of the etiquette issue of publicly celebrating someone's death, although my facebook and twitter were full of celebrations yesterday, I didn't comment on any of it. So, though I think it is perfectly fine for all of my friends and family to publicly celebrate the death of this woman, it's not something I took part in myself.