Abbey Celebrates the Life of Sir Terry Wogan

Her Majesty The Queen was represented by the Lady Susan Hussey GCVO; HRH The Duchess of Cornwall was represented by the Marchioness of Lansdowne; HRH The Princess Royal was represented by the Honourable Dame Shân Legge-Bourke; HRH The Duke of Kent was represented by Nicolas Adamson CVO OBE; and HRH Prince and Princess Michael of Kent were represented by the Lady Fellowes of West Stafford LVO. The National Anthem was sung.

The service was conducted by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, who said in his Bidding:

Terry Wogan was a legend in his own lifetime. After his death, one paper said of him, ‘Principled but self-deprecating, opinionated but generous, and never inclined to take himself seriously, he dominated the airwaves for decades. There’ll never be another Wogan, and those of us who grew up with him feel his loss very keenly.

Other broadcasters during this service will speak of his particular gifts. Perhaps they are best encapsulated in the words he addressed to his listeners when he signed off from his daily show. ‘If anybody embodies the generous, warm spirit of this country, it is you, my listeners’, he said. But as he spoke of them, he spoke too of himself.

Still feeling his loss, we come today to remember. But may we above all celebrate his life, give thanks to God for his gifts, and pray that the generous, warm spirit he demonstrated so powerfully might never fade away in this country, in these islands.