Family and friends lay Ronnie Barker to rest
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
Nearly 30 of Barker's family, as well as two or three close local friends joined his wife Joy, daughter Charlotte and son Larry to say goodbye to the star, who died 10 days ago.
The Porridge star's son, Adam, who is wanted by police on child pornography charges, did not attend, thwarting a significant police presence.
None of Barker's celebrity friends attended, such as the other half of his television comedy duo, Ronnie Corbett, or his Open All Hours co-star David Jason.
They are expected to attend a larger memorial service for Barker, likely to be held in Covent Garden next year. The funeral was held at Banbury Crematorium in Oxfordshire, just a few miles from Barker's home village of Dean, near Chipping Norton, where he ran an antique shop in later life.
During the 30-minute humanist funeral service, Charlotte read a passage from Alice in Wonderland, which was one of the comedian's favourite books.
That was followed by a tribute, read by a humanist celebrant, Nigel Collins. He also read some of the hundreds of tributes which had flooded in after Barker's death.
Mr Collins went on to read a tribute by Barker's family, in which they remembered him as he had been to them, at home.
Mr Collins said: "It was quite private and not the sort of thing you would see in obituaries."
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments