Out on a high... friends’ farewell to Lynda in service she planned
FAMILY, friends and showbusiness stars came together to remember Oxo Mum Lynda Bellingham yesterday – at the memorial service she wanted.
A life- size picture of actress and Loose Women star Lynda hung from the pulpit of St Stephen Walbrook Church in the City of London as the 300- strong congregation gathered.
Former Archdeacon of London Peter Delaney told how the actress had planned the entire service herself before she died from cancer last October aged 66.
He said: “The contents of this service are Lynda’s wishes because she planned her farewells.
“She wasn’t a control freak but by God she wanted to know what was going on.”
Among celebrities there were broadcaster Gyles Brandreth, 66, Birds Of A Feather star Lesley Joseph, 69, and Prime Suspect author Lynda La Plante, 71. Actresses Sylvia Syms, 81, Amanda Redman, 57, and Patricia Hodge, 68, were joined by her husband, businessman Michael Pattemore, 59, and her two sons Mike, 31, and Robbie, 26.
Mr Pattemore, who married the star at the same church six years ago, said: “She was unique – no other way of describing her. It breaks my heart that the one thing I could not protect her from was this disease called cancer.”
TV and stage star Christopher Biggins, 66, a long- term friend of Lynda who first found fame in TV adverts for Oxo, joked about the success of Ms Bellingham’s autobiography, telling Ms La Plante: “750,000 books sold... you haven’t done that have you?”
Mr Brandreth said Ms Bellingham was a “remarkable girl whose story and approach to life and death has touched so many. She would have been happy to go out on a high.” And the ceremony did end on a high note. As the congregation left, There’s No Business Like Showbusiness was played.