A special service of thanksgiving for Sir Terry Wogan has taken place in Westminster Abbey with readings from Radio 2 presenters Chris Evans, Ken Bruce and more.
Thousands of people attended the event on Tuesday lunchtime, which was also broadcast live on BBC Radio 2 in the UK. The station also aired special programmes for Sir Terry around the service, with Jeremy Vine starting at 11.30 and spending the last hour of his show looking back at the life and work of Terry.
The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster, opened the service with the words “Terry Wogan was a legend in his own lifetime” before introducing the memorial. The full Order of Service can be seen here.
Special mention was made of Terry’s early career at RTÉ where he started as a newsreader, and his roots in Limerick where he was born in 1938.
Lord Hall, the Director General of the BBC paid tribute, as did Chris Evans, Ken Bruce, Joanna Lumley OBE and Stevie Spring, Chairman of BBC Children in Need.
Katie Melua sang The Closest Thing To Crazy and Peter Gabriel performed a version of That’ll Do.
The service ended with the BBC Concert Orchestra playing The Floral Dance, which Terry Wogan recorded a copy of in 1978. Photos of attendees were taken by the Daily Mail here.
Jim Moir spoke to Jeremy Vine after the service. Jim, his former boss at Radio 2, paid tribute by saying Terry was: “warm, interested in people, and engaged the heart and minds of what has turned out to be a very loyal audience.”