The funeral for Sir Clement Freud was held today and seems to have been
quite an occasion.
Most of the British papers have extensive reports and photos.
Clement's JAM colleagues Nicholas Parsons, Paul Merton, Graham Norton,
Gyles Brandreth and Stephen Fry were among the mourners, as of course
was Emma Freud. The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, spoke at the service,
and among others attending was Bono.
Among the anecdotes told at the service: A friend recalled dining with
Sir Clement, who was tucking into the sausage rolls with gusto. "I
thought you were trying to get in shape," said the friend. "I am," Sir
Clement replied. "And the shape I have chosen is a triangle."
Some of his 17 grandchildren queued to read out their favourite quotes
from Sir Clement, including the occasion on Just a Minute when he was
asked what his favourite words were. “Unguent”, “parallelogram” and
“ubiquitous” were all candidates — but his favourite words were:
“Clement Freud, you are the winner.”
The funeral order of service, as predicted by a couple of you, did
include the words "best before" rather than "died".
Nicholas Parsons made this comment after the service: "It was the most
brilliant funeral service I have ever been to. Clement would have
approved. He would have found something sardonic to say but he would
have been very flattered and happy. He would have been extremely moved
but he would not have wanted to admit it."
Stephen Fry had this comment; "That was far and away the most wonderful
funeral service I have ever attended, if a funeral service can be
wonderful. It was touching, elegant, funny and beautifully organised. It
was really remarkable. I couldn't sing, partly because I was standing
next to Bono, which would have rather put my voice to shame, but also
because one was so choked by it all. The whole thing was wonderful and I
was proud to be there."
As the coffin left the church, the Just A Minute theme, the Minute
Waltz, was played.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/5215159/Sir-Clement-Freud-funeral.
html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6164313.ece
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/apr/24/sir-clement-freud-funeral
Pictures here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8017017.stm - selection includes pics
of Nicholas and Gyles together, Paul and Graham together, and Stephen.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1173196/Lucian-Freud-snubs-brothers-funeral-Gordon-Brown-Bono-join-mourners-saying-farewell-Sir-Clement.
html - includes pics of Nicholas, Paul, Graham and Stephen