The frustrating reason Paul O’Grady’s grave still doesn’t have a headstone after 18 months

Paul O’Grady’s grave still doesn’t have a headstone 18 months after the TV icon’s death aged 67.

The comedian and national treasure died in March 2023 at the age of 67 after rising to fame as a drag performer and activist in the 1990s, but a year and a half later family, friends and fans are still waiting for a ‘proper’ tribute.

Currently, O’Grady’s grave is only marked with wooden crosses and ornaments, and friend Sue Lanbourn has called for a more substantial memorial.

‘It needs a proper headstone, even something simple like an engraving of Paul’s dog Buster,’ she told The Sun.

It’s said plans were submitted for a memorial in in St Rumwold’s Churchyard in Bonnington, Kent, but the late star’s former agent admitted it is ‘unfortunately a lengthy process.

Joan Marshrons added: ‘Rest assured as soon as it comes through a fitting memorial headstone will be in place.’

There is plenty of red tape to get through, while the Diocese of Canterbury needs the ecclesiastical court to grant a permit for a memorial, due to the churchyard being consecrated land.

‘A petition was sent to the Commissary Court for a faculty for a memorial to the late Paul O’Grady in June 2024,’ a spokesperson confirmed.

While the petition is ‘being assessed’, it’s said ‘the faculty process is a legal process, independent of the church locally’, while they said ‘the decision making’ for O’Grady’s memorial fits the typical time frame of similar applications.

Earlier this year, O’Grady’s widow Andre Portasio travelled to New Zealand during the time of the one-year anniversary of his husband’s death, wanting to avoid being in their house and ‘remembering the shock I went through’.

‘I don’t wish that on my worst enemy- finding the person you love on the floor,’ he said.

However, he said he felt incredibly ‘fortunate’ to have spent 18 years with O’Grady.

When announcing his husband’s death last year, Andre said he would be ‘greatly missed by his loved ones, friends, family, animals and all those who enjoyed his humour, wit and compassion’.