London - It was far from a conventional send-off. The day after Kirstie Allsopp’s beloved mother lost her battle with breast cancer, she was placed in a wicker coffin, lifted on to the back of a tractor and driven up the garden where she was buried next to Benji, the family pony.
This was, the TV presenter has disclosed, the way that Lady Hindlip wanted to be buried when she died in January – a simple, discreet ceremony and surrounded by her closest family.
The Location, Location, Location co-host watched her mother stoically tackle cancer for 25 years, but realised the 66-year-old was dying when they discovered she had bought a coffin and hidden it in the attic.
Discussing her mother Fiona’s death for the first time, Miss Allsopp, 42, said: “When my sister went to get the Christmas decorations she found it – which was a bit of a shock. There was always a lot of very dark humour in our house. When Mum was alive her grave was dug so it was all ready. She wanted to be near Benji, our old pony’s grave.
“She managed not to die on anybody’s birthday. She managed not to die when anyone was out of the country. It’s like she died when everyone had time to deal with it. We buried her in the garden the next day.
“We lifted her into the wicker coffin and we put her on the trailer on the back of the tractor and drove her up the garden. It was very important for her that it was very small – no strangers were involved of any kind, we had to do absolutely everything. For Mum, it was all to do with discretion and privacy.”
Miss Allsopp, the eldest of four, was 17 when her mother discovered she had breast cancer. - Daily Mail