Dame Patricia Routledge’s funeral service in Chichester Cathedral attracted fans from fan and wide.

Nicky Smith drove down from Nottingham the night before to be there: “I always thought she was the most perfect comic actress. She made me laugh! And we all need that. Hyacinth Bucket (in Keeping Up Appearances) was just brilliant. She really captured something with that. We all know a Hyacinth, don’t we. She was a monster, but you just couldn’t help being fond of her.”

Dave Waters came from Brighton to pay his last respects: “I saw her in plenty of things on the Chichester Festival Theatre stage over the years, and she was always one of my favourites. She had perfect comic timing. She was priceless in what she did. I never met her. I am not sure I would have known what to say, but I always admired what she did.”

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For Alice Kingston, of London, it was memories of Talking Heads which brought her to Chichester for the day of Dame Patricia’s funeral: “She delivered it brilliantly. She was the master of the monologue. And I remember seeing her in Chichester years ago in a one-woman show about Beatrix Potter. She was perfect. She really made Beatrix Potter come alive. It was a wonderful performance.”