Anne Nolan speaks about sister Linda’s funeral including late star’s ‘humorous’ request

Anne Nolan opened up about the touching yet quirky farewell her sister Linda Nolan planned for herself before she passed away at age 65 last month after a brave battle with secondary breast cancer.

Linda’s final goodbye was marked by an emotional ceremony at St Paul’s Church in Blackpool, the place she exchanged vows with her beloved Brian Hudson.

During a heartfelt chat on Good Morning Britain with hosts Susanna Reid and Ed Balls, Anne reflected on the mix of sorrow and joy at the funeral and revealed Linda’s unique request for a pink glittery coffin. Anne said: “It was very emotional, very sad, but on the other hand it was kind of joyous as well. I mean, she picked her own coffin, the pink glittery coffin was her idea. That’s the only thing… Oh the other thing she wanted, she wanted us to wear mantillas.”


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She recounted how her daughter and Coleen shopped online for mantillas, the traditional Spanish lace scarves, but eventually decided against wearing them, suspecting Linda might have been joking with them. Speaking fondly, Anne remembered, “You know, the scarf things that you wear? The lace things? So my daughter and Coleen actually ordered them online. When they came, we chatted about it, and we said, ‘I think she might’ve been having a laugh there!’

“I don’t really think she wanted us to wear mantilla, so we didn’t wear them. But, that was the kind of humour she had.”



Hundreds of people gathered to pay their respects to Linda at her funeral
Hundreds of people gathered to pay their respects to Linda at her funeral

Asked whether they gave the mantillas a try, Anne joked: “I’m not sure what she was thinking about! She was probably just having us on, you know. But she did say she wanted us all in black and people to think about her and cry.”

During the ITV interview, Anne spoke about the hundreds of people who gathered to pay their final respects to Linda. Susanna noted: “In the days running up to the funeral, we were reporting on Good Morning Britain, that you as a family had said, if anybody wants to come, anybody, then come.”

Anne confirmed, saying, “That’s what Linda wanted. We were doing it for her really. It was really strange because on the way to the church in the funeral cars, as we arrived there was loads, hundreds of people outside the church.”



Anne Nolan speaks about sister Linda’s funeral including late star’s ‘humorous’ request
Linda Nolan’s funeral took place at the weekend

Anne became emotional as she described her sister Maureen breaking down at the sight of the crowd: “My sister Maureen started crying. I mean, we were all very emotional, but she started crying because of all the people that were there. She said, ‘I’m so glad because Linda would’ve been so disappointed if all these people hadn’t turned up.'”.

She also shared a touching anecdote about the local people, mentioning a woman near the church offering tea and coffee to those who showed up.

Talking about Linda, Anne added: “She’s going to be missed, such a lot. She was a forceful character. She was a big, big character in our family and in lots of people’s lives. I realised that now, she was amazing.”

View news Source: https://www.ok.co.uk/celebrity-news/anne-nolan-speaks-sister-lindas-34603847

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