Shane MacGowan’s widow says grief is “not as bad” as she was expecting.

Shane MacGowan’s widow says grief is ‘not as bad’ as she was expecting

Shane MacGowan’s widow says grief is ‘not as bad’ as she was expecting

Victoria Mary Clarke, 57, who was by The Pogues frontman’s side when he died aged 65 on 30 November from pneumonia after a long stretch of illness, admitted that even though she spent decades fearing the time when the singer would pass away, she is coping well with her devastation.

She told Good Morning Britain: “I spent many, many years – probably at least 35 years – worried about losing Shane as he pushed boundaries so much with what humans can do to their body.

“I dreaded that. I thought that I would fall apart. I thought I’d die, I thought I’d not be able to speak, comatosed or go on drugs myself – something like that.”

Victoria, who married Shane in 2018, added she has been “overwhelmed by the amount of love” she has received following the ‘Fairytale of New York’ singer’s death.

She said: “I want you all to know (losing a loved one) is not as bad as you think it’s going to be and there’s a huge amount of love that comes your way when you lose someone that you didn’t really expect.”

Victoria added she and Shane spent his final months “happy” together, adding:

“We spent most of our recent years sitting at home watching ‘The Crown’.

“We were happy. That’s what we wanted.”

Shane died weeks shy of his 66th on Christmas Day.

Fans of ‘Fairytale’ are campaigning for the song to claim the festive No1 spot in the UK charts after it was released in 1988 and only peaked at No2 after it was beaten to the coveted landmark by the Pet Shop Boys’ ‘Always on my Mind’.

But the track is currently trailing in the chart behind Wham!’s ‘Last Christmas’ and Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’.

Shane was being treated in hospital since June and was allowed home just before he died.

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