Paul O'Grady would want his friends to have fun at his funeral.
Paul O'Grady's funeral to be a celebration of life
The 67-year-old TV presenter died suddenly last week but his friend Amanda Mealing insisted he would not want his loved ones to be "morose" at his passing.
She told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: "Whatever happens, Paul’s funeral will be a celebration of his life and it will be full of laughter.
“He just told us to have a good time – he’d hate it if everyone was mawkish and morose. He would just say: ‘I don’t care, I won’t be here! Do whatever you want’.”
And actress Amanda - who called Paul 'Savage' after his alter-ego Lily Savage - hopes that there will be two funerals for Paul, a small private one for family and friends and a larger celebration of life for the general public.
She said: "There may be two funerals.
“A small private one and a big one in a very grand place for those outside the family. I would think it’ll be in London.
“Then everyone can come to that and it gives people a chance to fly in. There are ongoing conversations.
“We’ve also been asking: ‘Can we do something in Liverpool?’ because obviously they very much feel he’s their baby. It’s so difficult.”
Amanda found out about her pal's death in text from his husband Andre Portasio and she raced to the couple’s farmhouse in Aldington, Kent to comfort him.
She said: “Andre sent me a text at 1am. I woke up to it. I was just numb. I just couldn’t comprehend what the text had said.
“I just couldn’t understand it. As soon as I got myself together I went down to the house.
“Over the last few days, we’ve started conversations crying and end up laughing with tears just remembering ridiculous stories!
“On the first day we were all just wandering around numb and then yesterday I spent the entire day doing flower arrangements.
“There were so many flowers and gifts from people. Someone sent a video of a really beautiful send-off at the Vauxhall Tavern [the iconic London venue]. The thing that got us all was that instead of a moment’s silence, they had a moment’s cheer and that just set us all off. It was such a lovely thing. It just captures you.
“You think you’re okay and then something like that just gets you.
“It was such a lovely gesture to hear all this noise for him. It’s been an enormous comfort to know he was so loved. And for a kid from Birkenhead to have the Queen Consort send a message of condolence... speaks volumes. They had a great bond, but the thing about Savage was that he treated everyone the same, whether you were related to the Queen or a builder. It didn’t matter to him."