The cast, crew and fans of Coronation Street gathered in Manchester today to say farewell to legendary actress Betty Driver, who passed away earlier this month.
The star, who played Betty Williams (Turpin) for 42 years and appeared in over 2,800 Coronation Street episodes, died on October 15, aged 91.
Among those attending the service in St Ann's Church were co-stars Julie Goodyear, Helen Worth, Bill Tarmey, William Roache, Roy Barraclough and Michael Le Vell.
Hundreds of members of the public also gathered in St Ann's Square to watch the service on a screen.
Betty Driver had planned the service, choosing the music, the colour of the flowers and the idea to screen the service for fans.
Co-star Worth, who plays Gail McIntyre in the soap, told the congregation: "I think I speak for all the cast, crew, production, everyone...everyone...we will miss her so very much. The Rovers will not be the same without her.
"So how do we say goodbye to her? In the way she wanted us to do with a smile, remembering her infectious laugh, her perfume which announced her arrival, her love of life and everyone in it and celebrate with joy the glorious 91 years of Betty Driver."
She said that Betty Driver wanted her funeral to be on a Saturday so "that all at Granada were to free to share her life, to remember her and to say goodbye to our dearest Betty".
Worth said it was now 37 years since "my dearest Betty" had first called her "her child", and she had kept that title ever since.
She continued: "I always knew a hug was guaranteed and her last words to me when she was so ill, and it was such an effort for her to speak, were 'I want you to be happy'. Giving so much right to the end. In fact, you know, Betty just wanted the whole world to be happy.
"She was the ultimate professional and knew everything there was to showbusiness, including stealing your scene without any words. A perfect look timed to perfection which lit up the screen.
"She never wanted it to end. Her place behind the bar at the Rovers was always kept open."
Following the playing of Tchaikovsky's Opus 20 from Swan Lake Act 1, theatre impresario Bill Kenwright, who played Betty Driver's on-screen son Gordon, said: "God bless her, She knew how to pick a tune."
Of her pre-Coronation Street career, he said: "Betty was a huge, huge star in variety. At 12-years-old she was in the West End, by 18 she had starred in three movies, in the 40s probably the leading band singer. She was a big, big star of radio, recording and variety."
Of her time in Coronation Street, he said: "She was never ever in the most volatile of storylines. She was the bedrock of it. A juggernaut of love.
"I get into taxis and people say 'How is your mother?'. I have had condolence letters from all over the world saying 'I am so sorry about your mother'.
"This love and devotion came from a woman who had very, very little love in her childhood."
He continued: "I always called her mum, she always called me her son.
"She would, deep down, be thrilled with all of this but she was shy.
"She would not quite know how to take it. She was a really shy lady."
Kenwright said he went to visit his dear friend when he learned she was ill and was warned she was in a semi-conscious state and would not recognise him.
He held her hand and she squeezed his fingers when he asked if she knew it was him, he said.
After talking for some time, Kenwright whispered in her ear: "I'm going to ring them [Coronation Street] and see if I can come back in a few weeks and do a story together.
"I swear she pulled me over to her and said: 'Don't you bloody go without me'."
He concluded: "Paul McCartney wrote the words 'and in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make'.
"Well Elizabeth Mary Driver, you have made an awful lot of love and I am so proud I am part of it."
