Hundreds attend Patricia Routledge’s funeral in Chichester

Hundreds of mourners gathered earlier for the funeral of actress Dame Patricia Routledge, known for playing Hyacinth Bucket in classic TV sitcom Keeping Up Appearances.

The service took place at Chichester Cathedral, in West Sussex, where a tribute was read out by the Very Reverend Nicholas Frayling.

He said Dame Patricia had an “instinctive ability, not merely to observe people, but to absorb their characteristics, especially solitary people with hidden vulnerabilities”.

The actress died “peacefully in her sleep” at the age of 96 on 3 October, “surrounded by love”, according to her agent.

Dean Johnston told the congregation: “She never talked about it, but she was a prodigiously generous philanthropist.

“She 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.”

Those attending the funeral had been asked to donate to the foundation, a grant-making charity which supports a range of charitable causes.

The first reading was by Peter Bourke, an actor known for his roles in The Mayor Of Casterbridge and David Copperfield.

Dame Patricia was remembered for her “versatility and her humanity”.

The tribute brought some of the gathered congregation to tears as Dean Frayling told stories from the late actress’s life.

He said she was known around the world for her role as Hyacinth Bucket – pronounced “bouquet” – because “everywhere people like laughing at the English”.

There was laughter from the congregation when he recalled Dame Patricia remarking: “I’m very big in Botswana.”

Keeping Up Appearances ran from 1990 to 1995, and the following year, Dame Patricia was voted the nation’s most popular actress at the BBC’s 60th anniversary awards.

During tributes to the actress during the funeral, her “deep concern for the suffering of the world” was remembered.

Dean Frayling said upon seeing images of Gaza, she quoted TS Eliot saying: “After such knowledge, what forgiveness?”

He added: “She never lost the capacity for hope…but she knew the difference between hope and optimism.”

In her final hours, Dame Patricia read passages from Yeats and Shakespeare with her carer, the service was told.

Mr Frayling ended his tribute at Chichester Cathedral with the words, “Walk on with hope in your heart and you’ll never walk alone”, a lyric from the musical Carousel, which Dame Patricia had starred in on stage.

The actress also starred in Alan Bennett’s TV monologues and played BBC One’s amateur sleuth Hetty Wainthropp, while also enjoying an acclaimed stage career.

Canon David Nason was a close friend of Dame Patricia for more than 30 years and the pair met through his role as a theatre chaplain.

He said: “Some way or another we kind of stuck together through thick and thin, through the highs and the lows.”

Canon Nason said he used to read fan letters to her from “all over the world” towards the end of her life.

“It’s amazing what they said and the joy that she brought to people,” he added.

“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.”

Canon Nason explained that Dame Patricia had designed her funeral about four years ago, including all the music.

Simon Goodwin, who came to the cathedral to pay his respects, said: “She was a really incredible woman, very knowledgeable of a lot of things.”

Gary Kirby, who also came to the cathedral, added: “I’ve watched her for years and I just thought she was amazing, so I just feel very lucky to be here.”

Local resident Anne Priest described the late actress as “very much a lady of Chichester”.

The Birkenhead-born star was celebrated for her performances on stage as well as screen after starting her career in the theatre in the 1950s.

Following roles in London’s West End, she established herself in the US when she won the Tony Award for best lead actress in a musical on Broadway in New York for Darling of the Day in 1968.

She was as adept at serious drama as she was at musicals and comedy – she appeared in Richard III and Henry V for the Royal Shakespeare Company, then won an Olivier Award for best actress in a musical for Candide in the 1980s.

The 80s also saw her become a national TV star – playing Kitty in Victoria Wood’s As Seen on TV, and delivering three of Bennett’s renowned Talking Heads monologues, including 1988’s A Lady of Letters, for which she received a Bafta Award nomination.

She earned two further Bafta nominations, for Keeping Up Appearances, in 1992 and 1993, then starred in the title role as a retired woman on a quest to solve crimes in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates between 1996 and 1998.

The actress appeared numerous times at Chichester Festival Theatre, near her home in West Sussex.

She was made an OBE in 1993, a CBE in 2004, and a dame in 2017.

Additional reporting from PA Media.