Tucker's funeral an understated affair

Published May 30, 2008

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By Angelique Serrao

An understated funeral, attended by only about 60 people, was held for Philip Tucker, the millionaire show jumper who was once married to former Miss World Anneline Kriel.

He died earlier this week. Dressed in his pyjamas and socks, 59-year-old Tucker was found floating face down in the pool of his luxury double-storey townhouse in Sandhurst. It is believed he had been trying to fix something on the roof of his house.

He was buried at the Westpark Cemetery on Thursday.

Kriel hid her emotions behind a pair of dark glasses, but her two daughters by Tucker, Tayla, 17, and Whitney,15 , seemed devastated as their father's simple coffin was lowered into the ground.

Rabbi Sholem Bacher conducted the ceremony.

"I never knew Philip very well, but I did meet him on one sad occasion.

"It was here at a funeral. From that meeting I saw that he was a very determined man. No matter what the challenge, he always took it up.

"He lived life to the full and was grateful that he enjoyed the luxuries of the world.

"Horses were his passion. He represented South Africa as a show jumper and he really loved the animals.

"He woke up in the morning to put on his riding boots. But most of all, his children were the centre of his life.

"They were the most important people in his existence."

The exact circumstances of Tucker's death remain unknown. Paramedics suspect he fell from the roof while trying to fix the TV aerial.

His body was discovered hours later when his domestic worker arrived home. Meat and marinade found on the scene suggested he had been preparing a braai for himself in the hours before he died.

Tucker married Miss World 1974 Anneline Kriel in 1989.

Their tempestuous union ended five years later, after Kriel filed for divorce in 1994.

Kriel and her two daughters live in Cape Town with Kriel's husband, businessman Peter Bacon.

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