The Queen has said The Archers actress June Spencer will be “greatly missed” following her death aged 105.
Spencer had played matriarch Peggy Woolley in the BBC Radio 4 show since its first episode in 1951, and was credited as being the longest-serving character in the programme when she announced her retirement in 2022 – at the age of 103.
Her many fans over the years included Camilla, who invited Spencer and her co-stars to Clarence House for a reception marking the show’s 70th anniversary in 2021.
Camilla also made a cameo appearance as herself in a special episode marking the 60th anniversary of the show.
“For over 70 years, June Spencer was a much-loved part of so many people’s lives, brilliantly combining in Peggy Woolley the roles of reassuring matriarch and ‘gangsta granny’,” the Queen said in a statement shared on the official Royal Family Instagram account.
“She will be greatly missed and I send my heartfelt condolences to her family.”
Spencer first joined The Archers for a pilot episode in 1950, and on-air her storylines saw her character deal with alcoholism, gambling and bereavement.
Peggy was often viewed as a traditionalist, a conservative character in the long-running drama charting the ups and downs of life in fictional Ambridge.
A statement released by the BBC said: “June Spencer, aged 105, best known for playing Peggy in BBC Radio 4 The Archers, died peacefully in her sleep in the early hours of this morning.
“Her family would like to pay particular tribute and thanks to the staff team at Liberham Lodge (care home in Surrey), who so lovingly cared for her in the last two years.”
Jeremy Howe, editor of The Archers, said working with her was “one of the great privileges of my time at the BBC”, and added that aside from performing as “the ultimate matriarch of Ambridge”, she was a “brilliant actress”.
He also said: “One of the cast once remarked that in all her time in the show he had only ever heard her fluff her lines the once.
“She was an actress who revelled in her craft, someone who could score a bullseye with a gently insulting cough as if it were a bon mot from Oscar Wilde.
“She was also a great company member – funny, sharp, warm, never gossipy, but with wonderful stories of the early days of radio drama, self-deprecating and a great companion.”
Mr Howe also hailed her as “the queen” of the soap, and said with “her death The Archers has lost its link with the birth of the show over 70 years ago”.
“It is a humbling moment for us all,” he added.
The BBC said The Archers will mark her character’s 100th birthday next week.
Peggy had been a silent character since the Nottingham-born actress’s retirement.
Mohit Bakaya, controller of Radio 4, called Spencer a “longstanding presence and companion for Radio 4 listeners during her exceptional run” on the radio soap.
“Many have grown up with June as Peggy and listened as she journeyed through life’s many chapters, with all of its ups and downs,” Mr Bakaya added.
“In her later years, her portrayal of a devoted wife caring for a husband with dementia, including their very moving final goodbye, was deeply poignant and powerful radio.
“We send all our love and condolences to June’s family and the many people whose lives she touched.”
Peggy’s first husband, Jack Archer, was a gambler and alcoholic, and her second, Jack Woolley (Arnold Peters), suffered from dementia, which prompted a moving storyline long before the condition became a national talking point.
Spencer’s husband, Roger Brocksom, died in 2001 after suffering dementia, shortly before her on-air husband in The Archers had Alzheimer’s.
Her adopted son David, a classical dancer, died after a battle with alcoholism.
Peters died in May 2013 aged 87 after suffering from Alzheimer’s.