Celebrities and the Royal Family have paid tribute to TV star and activist Paul O’Grady, who has died at the age of 67.
The message on the Royal Family’s Twitter included a picure of Paul O’Grady with Camilla, and said” ‘Deeply saddened to hear of the death of Paul O’Grady, who worked closely with Her Majesty in support of @Battersea-, providing lots of laughter and many waggy-tailed memories.’
As part of its tributes, ITV will be reshowing the episode of hit show For the Love of Dogs, featuring the Queen Consort.
Tributes have also been sent by TV presenter and actor Richard Arnold, human rights activist Peter Tatchell, TV presenter Carol Vorderman, Amanda Holden, Vernon Kay, Paddy McGuinness, Piers Morgan, Labour MP Jess Phillips, and director of music at the BBC Lorna Clarke. Paul O’Grady presented a show on BBC Radio 2 for 14 years. Battersea Dogs and Cats Home paid tribute to O’Grady as a ‘devoted animal lover’ and a champion for the underdog”.
Trailblazer
The last photo of the star shows him posing with a dog in Edinburgh where he was performing in a stage production of the musical Annie. It was shared on Instagram and taken three days ago.
Paul O’Grady was a trailblazer for the LGBT+ community, bursting onto the national stage as drag queen Lily Savage in the 1980s, making a name for himself speaking out about LGBT issues and picking up a mainstream following after being nominated for a Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe festival in 1991. In the early 2000s he became a household name, hosting daytime chat show, The Paul O’Grady Show, which began airing in 2004.
Andre Portasio, who married O’Grady in 2017, paid tribute to his ‘humour, wit and compassion’ in a statement announcing his death released just before 3am.
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