Four candles to remember Ronnie

Corbett's memorial service in Westminster Abbey

Around 2,000 people are remembering Ronnie Corbett at a memorial service in Westminster Abbey today.

The service began with a procession of four candles – a nod to the famous Two Ronnies sketch and an echo of the same tribute paid to Ronnie Barker at his funeral service in the Abbey in 2006.

Any guesses why there are four candles? #RonnieCorbett pic.twitter.com/tg5IWmw7ll
— Westminster Abbey (@wabbey) June 7, 2017

Today, Corbett's famous chair, from which he delivered many a shaggy-dog monologue, was placed poignantly in front of the altar.

Empty, sadly. The chair used by #RonnieCorbett in many much-loved sketches is part of our sevice today. pic.twitter.com/HMc0yLsUqJ
— Westminster Abbey (@wabbey) June 7, 2017

Stars including Joanna Lumley, Rob Brydon and Jimmy Tarbuck delivered readings and tributes at the service.

Tarbuck told the congregation that Corbett was ‘5 foot 2 in stature, 6 foot in talent’

While Brydon recalled: ‘When I went out with him, the faces of the people around us would light up.’

Lumley read 1 Corinthians 13, the passage often read at weddings which includes the verses: ‘Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.’

The congregation boasted as many star names as any awards ceremony, among them The Duchess of York, Harry Hill, Graham Norton, Stephen Fry, Barbara Windsor, Jo Brand, Julian Clary, Ben Elton, David Walliams, Su Pollard, Barry Cryer, Patricia Routledge, Mat Horne, Richard Wilson and Dame Penelope Keith.

But mostly the Abbey was filled with fans who had applied for free tickets.

Before the service, Brydon said: ‘He brought so much happiness to people. It should be a happy occasion, to remember a great life. It was his timing, it was his rhythms, it was his warmth.’

Nicholas Parsons, who was also there, said: ‘Ronnie was warm, generous, giving. He was a very warm, loving person. That came across in all his performances. That warmth, that charm, that love of people. He was just amazing.’

Dressed in white, Corbett's widow Anne Hart took a front-row seat for the memorial, which was conducted by the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster.