A GRIEF HISTORY OF TIME Physicist’s brilliant life celebrated

Nicola Small Actor Eddie Redmayne joined mourners at Stephen Hawking’s funeral yesterday to say goodbye to one of the world’s greatest physicists.

Redmayne, 36, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of the professor in the 2014 f i lm The Theory of Everything, read a bible passage at the service.

Hundreds of well- wishers lined the streets of Hawking’s home town, Cambridge, to pay their respects.

As the funeral cor tege approached, the crowd fell silent and the church bell tolled 76 times – once for each year of the professor’s life.

Spontaneous applause then broke out as six porters from his former Cambridge col lege, Gonville & Caius, carried his coffin into the church.

Fol lowing behind were Hawk ing’s fami ly – including his first wife Jane Hellyer Jones, 74, children Robert, 50, Lucy, 47, and Tim, 38, and two of his young grandchildren. Floral tributes – including an arrangement of white lilies to represent the universe and another of white roses as the polar star – were brought into the church. Guests at the University Church of Great St Mary’s included model and actress, a nd Cambr id g e graduate, Lily Cole, 30, and c ome - d ian Dara O Briain, 46, who made a documentary with Hawking.

Other star guests included Queen guitarist Brian May and his actress wife Anita Dobson.

Elaine Mason, Hawking’s second wife and former nurse, whom he divorced in 2006 after a tempestuous 11-year marriage, was among the 500 mourners.

They mar r ied af ter the physicist split from university sweetheart Jane fol lowing 30 years of marriage.

Elaine said: “Stephen was the love of my life and still is. I just looked after him and taught others to look after him.”

Astronomer Martin Rees, 75, read from Plato’s Apology 40, The Death of Socrates. There were two eulog ies – one from Hawking’s eldest son Robert and a second from Professor Fay Dowker, a former student.

Hawk ing d ied a t h i s Cambridge home on March 14 – more than 50 years after he was given two years to live.

The scientist was diagnosed with motor neurone disease when he was 21. He became wheelchair- bound and only able to communicate using a computer and voice synthesiser.

This didn’t stop him becoming the world’s most famous physicist since Albert Einstein – for his work exploring the mysteries of space, time and blackholes.