Paul O'Grady's daughter shares special tribute on first Christmas since his death
20.12.2023 - 16:21
/ ok.co.uk
The daughter of national treasure Paul O'Grady has shared details of how the family pay tribute to her late dad, ahead of the family’s first Christmas without him. Sharon Mousley, born in 1974 to Paul and his friend Diane Jansen, revealed that her son (Paul’s grandson) Abel, 16, uses one of Paul’s favourite songs as his phone ringtone.
“When dad used to take Abel out in the car, he’d play Trouble by Elvis,” she said. “Now Abel has that as his ringtone on his phone, and my dad used to have it on his phone.
“When I hear Abel's phone ring, for a split second, I think my dad's gonna walk into the room and say, ‘Who's that on the phone?’” Comedian and animal lover Paul died at his home near Ashford, Kent, on 28 March, 2023, from a sudden cardiac arrhythmia. His husband Andre Portasio, who he wed in 2017, said at the time that the For the Love of Dogs presenter, who was 67, died “unexpectedly but peacefully”.
Liverpool-born Paul was a long-time presenter on BBC Radio 2 and music played an important role in his private funeral service at St Rumwold’s Church in Bonnington, Kent, held a few weeks after his passing. The playlist included Meditation from the opera Thais, which Paul chose as his favourite piece of music when he appeared on Desert Island Discs in 2003.
Elvis’s 1958 blues song Trouble - now Abel's ringtone - was played as the mourners left the church following a eulogy delivered by his close friend Julian Clary. Speaking to host Julian for a pre-recorded Boom Radio tribute show to be aired on Christmas Day, Paul’s daughter, who is also mum to Paul’s granddaughter Halo, said: “I asked my children what memories they had of Paul, and Halo said the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse March as they used to dance to that in his
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