Biggins "honoured" to speak at Dame Barbara Windsor's funeral

By Neil Wilkes, Editor-in-chief | 2h

Christopher Biggins says that he will be one of the speakers at the funeral of good friend Dame Barbara Windsor.

Christopher Biggins has revealed that he will be giving a speech at the funeral of his close friend Dame Barbara Windsor.

The national treasure died a week ago at the age of 83 following a long battle with Alzheimer's disease and will be honoured with a private service next month - albeit with a limited audience due to coronavirus regulations.

"Only 30 people are allowed to attend her funeral... but her TV pal is one of them and will be giving a speech," panto legend Biggins told Steph's Packed Lunch on Thursday.

"I'm very honoured because you can only have 30 people at the funeral, and I am one of the speakers.

"Anna Karen is speaking about her early life, I'm speaking about the middle part of her life and Ross [Kemp] from EastEnders is talking about that part of her life. It will be very, very sad.

"I wish there was a way that we could record it so people can watch it online. It's going to be a terrible day, it's in January, but we're all there for him (husband Scott Mitchell) and for her. She was very special."

Reflecting on her legacy, he said: "I wish that when we die, all of us – we had 24 hours looking down to hear what people say about us.

"Because Barbara would have been thrilled. I have never seen an outcry of horror from everybody that she died.

"She was the most extraordinary woman and she was a friend of mine for 40 years and she was so special. We went on holiday together and we did shows around the country. We've been everywhere. She was extraordinary."

Windsor had a seven-decade career in the business and was most known for her long-running roles in the Carry On films and EastEnders.