A CANINE GUARD OF HONOUR JOINS THE MOURNERS TO SAY A FINAL FAREWELL
REPORT: ROSALIND POWELL
1955-2023
H e was their greatest champion and most stalwart supporter, so it was only fitting that some of Paul O’Grady’s beloved pooches from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home lined the streets as a canine guard of honour for his funeral.
The comedian and presenter, who died last month aged 67, was a passionate ambassador for the charity, warming the nation’s hearts with his series Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs, in which he appealed for people to adopt the abandoned pets he introduced each week.
High-profile friends, among them Ronnie and Sally Wood, comedians Alan Carr and Jo Brand and TV presenter Gaby Roslin, joined mourners as the funeral cortège passed through Aldington, Kent, where Paul lived with husband Andre Portasio plus their goats, chickens, barn owl and, of course, dogs, many rescued from Battersea.
OUTPOURING OF LOVE
Carrying bouquets and wiping away tears, crowds watched as a procession of limousines followed the coffin, which was carried by a horse and carriage from Paul’s sprawling farmhouse to St Rumwold’s Church in Bonnington.
Andre, a former English National Ballet dancer, had used Facebook groups to invite the local school and community to come out to mourn and expressed his “deep gratitude” for the “overwhelming outpouring of support and love”.
“While the funeral will be a private ceremony, as many of you know, Paul cared a lot about his local community,” he wrote. “We have therefore requested that the funeral procession passes through Aldington before heading to the church, as a way of marking Paul’s affection for the area.”
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