Celebrities turn out for Peaches Geldof funeral

SIR Bob Geldof was joined by a host of stars for the funeral of his daughter Peaches yesterday.

Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, arrives for the funeral of Peaches Geldof Picture: Getty

Peaches, 25, a television presenter and model, died suddenly at her home in Kent, on 7 April.

Sir Bob led the tributes to his daughter at the private service in the same church where Peaches was married two years ago and where the funeral of her mother Paula was held.

The church which had the message “RIP Peaches” written on chalk on its wall, is next to Sir Bob’s Davington Priory country estate, where Peaches and her sisters grew up.

Mourners bowed their heads as Peaches’ sky blue coffin arrived by hearse at St Mary Magdelene and St Lawrence church in the village of Davington, near Faversham in Kent.

The mother-of-two’s coffin was painted with pictures of Peaches and her husband and their two sons and pet dogs, and with clouds, flowers and peaches along the side,

Dozens of locals had gathered outside the church, where two years ago Peaches married musician Tom Cohen, the father of her two sons Astala, 23 months, and 11-month-old Phaedra.

It is also where television presenter Yates married Geldof in 1986.

Yates’ funeral was held there after she died from an accidental heroin overdose in 2000, aged 41.

Musician and television personality Jools Holland – who co-hosted The Tube music show with Yates in the 1980s – was among the first to arrive for the service, followed by Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, who arrived alone in a chauffeured Bentley.

They were joined by supermodel Kate Moss and her husband Jamie Hince, former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman, BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show presenter Nick Grimshaw and actress Trudie Styler, who is married to the musician Sting.

Also in attendance to pay their respects were Alexa Chung, the television presenter, model and journalist, Razorlight frontman Johnny Borrell, singer Eliza Doolittle and actress Jaime Winstone, TV presenter Mariella Frostrup, Four Weddings and a Funeral screenwriter Richard Curtis and model and television personality Jo Wood.

Among the floral tributes was a large bunch of peach-coloured roses with a card reading: “Shine bright like a diamond. RIP Peaches”

The Rev Tracey Bateson, who led the service, said that her thoughts were with Sir Bob and his family

She later said: “I will be there for him as much as possible, just as I would with any other parishioners.”

Celebrities who attended the service somberly chatted with each other as they left the church, some carrying the order of service which featured a portrait of Peaches on the front and a picture of her family on the back.

Peaches’ ashes are expected to be scattered in the garden of her father’s estate.

Speaking shortly after her sudden death, former Boomtown Rats singer Geldof paid tribute to his daughter alongside his partner Jeanne Marine and Ms Geldof’s sisters Fifi Trixibelle, Pixie and Tiger, saying she was the “wildest, funniest, cleverest, wittiest and the most bonkers of all of us”.

Kent Police said the her death was being treated as a “non-suspicious, unexplained sudden death”.

The cause is not yet known as a post-mortem test was inconclusive. The results of toxicology tests are expected in the coming weeks, after which an inquest is expected to be opened.

It is believed Peaches’ baby son Phaedra was found next to her body after her husband raised the alarm when she failed to answer the telephone.

Bob Geldof said the loss of Peaches had left him and his family “beyond pain”.

Making an early debut in the London glamour and society scene, Peaches wrote articles for national newspapers from the age of 14 and was a regular on London’s party scene.

But after becoming a mother she enjoyed rural life and at the time of her death, she was a columnist for Mother & Baby magazine, writing that “being a mum is the best thing in my life”.

Peaches’ last Twitter post, the day before her death, was a photograph of herself and her mother, saying: “Me and my mum.”

Writing after her death, Peaches’ elder sister, Fifi Trixibelle, also paid tribute with a post on Instagram that read: “My beautiful baby sister… Gone but never forgotten. I love you Peaches x.”

Husband Cohen, lead singer of the band SCUM, added: “My beloved wife Peaches was adored by myself and her two sons Astala and Phaedra.

“I shall bring them up with their mother in their hearts everyday. We shall love her forever.”

Peaches was aged just 11 when her own mother died.

Born Peaches Honeyblossom Geldof, the late mother-of-two tried her hand at modelling, journalism and TV presenting.

In 2008 she married American musician Max Drummey in Las Vegas but the couple split just six months later. She later married Cohen.

Her mother Paula married Geldof in 1986 and Peaches was born in 1989.