Dawn French revived her Vicar Of Dibley character to give a eulogy at a living funeral for a friend battling cancer.
Dawn French revived her beloved TV character to appear at a living funeral for her friend Kris Hallenga
The 65-year-old actress donned a cassock and dog collar to step back into the shoes of Geraldine Granger - who she played in the BBC sitcom for three series - to give a speech at the "FUNeral" on Saturday (10.06.23) at Truro Cathedral in Cornwall in honour of her pal Kris Hallenga - the 37-year-old founder of the CoppaFeel! charity who has stage four breast cancer.
Dawn shared a picture of the pair together on Instagram and explained: "It was my privilege and joy to Dibley it up at her living (she was there) FUNeral on Sat.
"She wanted to host the best possible party. She did. It was phenomenal. So much love filling @trurocathedral. It was her own festival celebrating an extraordinary life. What a total babe.
"Check out @legacyoflives thanks to @tinandcoppermedia all who worked so hard to put it together."
Kris was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009 at the age of 23 and she has since revealed the disease has spread to her bones, liver and brain.
She later thanked her friend Dawn for taking part by adding her own pictures of the event on Instagram and writing: "It takes a babe to know a babe ... (I'm not sure I or anyone else will ever get over this)."
She added of the special day: "I am still processing all the feelings, the wonder, the ridiculousness, the MAGNITUDE of Saturday (and my adrenaline hasn’t calmed the f down yet) but suffice to say it was THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE.
"If you’re a little behind, in January I decided I wanted to organise my own living funeral, my FUNeral, and in doing so celebrate a life that I have truly loved, surrounded by people I loved ... I am still processing all the feelings, the wonder, the ridiculousness, the MAGNITUDE of Saturday (and my adrenaline hasn’t calmed the f down yet) but suffice to say it was THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE.
"If you’re a little behind, in January I decided I wanted to organise my own living funeral, my FUNeral, and in doing so celebrate a life that I have truly loved, surrounded by people I loved. It was during a psylocibin (magic [mushroom ]) journey later in January that my very wild and wonderful ideas were concocted and in March I started to organise the event of my life."
She added: "I’ve never felt love like it. I’ve never felt joy like it. I’ve never felt such kinship with mortality. I’ve never felt so alive. Living funerals? 10/10 would recommend."
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