Rock stars and royalty joined friends and family yesterday at a 12th-century Kentish church for the funeral of Peaches Geldof, the mother, model and journalist who died suddenly on April 7th.
Mourners at the private service for the 25-year-old daughter of Bob Geldof included Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson, musician Jools Holland, models Alexa Chung and Kate Moss, former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman and BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show presenter Nick Grimshaw.
The funeral took place at the Anglican church of St Mary Magdalene and St Lawrence, which neighbours the Geldof family’s Davington Priory estate near Faversham.
The cover of the order of service featured a black-rimmed portrait of “Peaches Honeyblossom Geldof Cohen”, in the white lace wedding dress she wore when she married Thomas Cohen, former lead singer of the rock band Scum, at the same church in 2012.
The marriage of Bob Geldof and Peaches’s mother, television presenter Paula Yates, was blessed in the same church, in 1986, and Yates’s funeral was held there, in 2000, following an accidental heroin overdose.
'Dear Sir Bob . . .'
Members of the public left bouquets and cards outside the entrance to the property's driveway. One read: "Dear Sir Bob and family, so sorry to hear about your beautiful angel Peaches."
A black hearse carrying Geldof’s sky-blue coffin, with pictures of clouds and flowers painted on the sides and a painting of her on one end with Cohen, her infant sons Astala and Phaedra and their pet dogs, drew into the Davington Priory estate just before 1pm.
The actor Jamie Winstone, rock singer Johnny Borrell and journalist Mariella Frostrup were pictured arriving before the service. Pavlos, the crown prince of Greece, and Princess Chantal of Hanover were among also in attendance.
Geldof’s sudden death remains unexplained after initial postmortem results were inconclusive pending the results of toxicology tests. Her body was found at her home in Wrotham, Kent, where she was bringing up her young sons, who turn one and two this month.
'Unexplained'
Officers from Kent police were called "following a report of concern for the welfare of a woman" and said the death was being treated as "nonsuspicious" and "unexplained".
They declined to confirm or deny reports that no drugs or suicide note were found at the home.
In an article written shortly before her death, Geldof wrote that she had found “bliss” in family life and described herself as “happier than ever”.
Her father released a statement describing her as "the wildest, funniest, cleverest, wittiest and the most bonkers of all of us".
– (Guardian service)