Janey Godley fans packed the streets of Edinburgh as her hearse travelled along the Royal Mile on her ‘final tour’.
The comedian’s funeral procession travelled through the streets of her “beloved festival home” as fans clapped and threw roses.
The procession travelled along Cockburn Street and Market Street before heading towards Glasgow, where her funeral will take place on Saturday at St Mary’s Cathedral.
Fans held banners and flags emblazoned with phrases Godley was known for.
The hearse was accompanied by Godley’s close friend Shirley Doig.
Fans had travelled from across the country to pay their respects.
One told STV News: “We couldn’t not be here. We came down from Aberdeen purely because she kept us going through lockdown.
“She’s just so funny and so lovely, and we felt it was right to come and pay our respects.”
Heather Macleod, leader of the Soundhouse choir, said: “Janey is an absolute legend.
“She is dear to all of our hearts and has many, many fans in the choir.
“We were called big Janette and the Sandras for today. We wanted to come and pay tribute.”
Godley, who died on November 2, aged 63, after receiving palliative treatment for terminal cancer, found viral fame with her dubbed parodies of then Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s coronavirus news briefings during the pandemic.
From a difficult childhood in the East End of Glasgow, Godley forged a successful stand-up career and became a household name.
STV NewsSturgeon told STV News she thinks people will remember Godley “as one of the funniest comedians Scotland has ever produced” but also as someone “who was incredibly brave”.
She said: “I’ll remember her as somebody who was really funny but also really kind and with a very, very strong sense of public good.
“Her voiceovers of my Covid briefings were hilarious, and people needed a laugh at that time, so it lifted people in a really, really tough period, but it also served a bigger purpose.
“There is no doubt in my mind that through those voiceovers, more people engaged with the really serious public health messages I was trying to convey than would otherwise have been the case, so she did a lot of good too.
“Janey is one of our many comedians in Scotland who are really funny, really popular and really, really successful. She probably ranks alongside Billy Connolly, and actually, he thinks that because he gave her an award just a couple of years ago.
“She captures something about the essence of being, not just Scottish, but from the west of Scotland in particular, and it’s really special.”
STV NewsAshley Storrie, Janey’s daughter, said the hearse will navigate through Edinburgh, her “beloved festival home”, on Friday before travelling “home to Glasgow”.
Storrie said her mother asked that those who wish to do so should wear bright colours instead of traditional funeral attire to celebrate her life.
She also asked that no flowers be sent but that people be invited to contribute to the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice or any charity of their choice.
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