Hundreds of mourners attended Dame Patricia Routledge’s funeral on Wednesday (5 November) at Chichester Cathedral in West Sussex.
Routledge, who died at the age of 96 on 3 October, was a beloved television and West End actor, best known for her starring role in the 1990s BBC sitcom Keeping Up With Appearances. Her agent said in a statement in October that she died in her sleep “surrounded by love.”
Funeral attendees included old friends, fans and local residents who wanted to pay their respects to the sitcom icon.
The BBC reported that the attendees were asked to donate to The Patricia Routledge Foundation during the service in honour of the late star. The charity, created in 1999, aids other charitable organisations through grants for a range of social issues like education and overseas aid.
According to the Mail, Reverend Nicholas Frayling said during the service that Routledge donated more than £1m to “causes that benefit young people, especially those beginning their careers in music or theatre”.
“Many such people and numerous charitable causes will continue to benefit through the Patricia Routledge Foundation,” Frayling added.
The rest of the service was a celebration of Routledge’s long life and achievements.
Canon David Nason, a retired reverend and close friend of Routledge’s for 30 years, told the BBC that the actor had decided what her funeral service would be like four years before her death. Nason said he would spend time reading Routledge her fan letters from around the world towards the end of her life.
“It's amazing what they said and the joy that she brought to people,” Nason said. “People who had been suffering terrible diseases, they'd watch one of her [shows], well Keeping Up Appearances usually, and it had made them feel a whole lot better."
Routledge received two Bafta nominations for her leading role in Keeping Up Appearances, which lasted five seasons. In the show, she played Hyacinth Bucket, a snobbish, middle-class woman who wanted to be treated like royalty and was a nuisance to her neighbours and husband.
The star was often praised for her versatility on stage, appearing in Shakespearean tragedies, comedies and musicals. She won a Tony Award in 1968 for starring in the Broadway musical Darling of the Day, and an Olivier in 1988 after appearing in Leonard Bernstein’s opera Candide.
The BBC’s director of comedy, Jon Petrie, said in October in a tribute to Routledge that the actor’s portrayal of Hyacinth Bucket has to “be one of the most iconic performances in British comedy”.
“Dame Patricia made millions laugh and left a legacy that will always be remembered with gratitude and admiration,” he added.
