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From the Queen to Dame Vivienne Westwood and Robbie Coltrane – the people who died in 2022

December 31, 2022

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While 2022 has been memorable for numerous reasons, some may look back on it as the year we said goodbye to many notable people.

The world has lost some of its most well-known faces over the last 12 months, from showbiz stars and royalty to athletes and artists.

Among the high profile people who died this year were Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away at Balmoral on September 8, aged 96, bringing to a close her historic 70-year reign.

And the British fashion world said goodbye to its own Queen this week, when it was revealed that Dame Vivienne Westwood had died at her South London home at the age of 81. Other stars who passed away in 2022 include actor Robbie Coltrane and ex-Pope Benedict XVI.

Queen Elizabeth II died ‘peacefully’ on September 8 at Balmoral this year. She was 96-years-old

Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8 aged 96 at Balmoral. All Her Majesty’s children rushed to Balmoral that day after doctors became ‘concerned’ for her health. Hours later she died, surrounded by her family.

To her subjects at home, Her Majesty was the nation’s anchor, holding firm no matter what storm she or her country was facing – from the uncertain aftermath of the Second World War to, more recently, the pandemic.

She was also steadfast as she dealt with tragedies and scandals in her own family, most recently the fallout from Megxit and the death of her beloved husband Prince Philip.

The Queen’s passing came more than a year after that of her beloved husband Philip, her ‘strength and guide’, who died aged 99 in April 2021.

Since his funeral, where she poignantly sat alone because of lockdown restrictions, her own health faltered, and she was forced to miss an increasing number of events mainly due to ‘mobility problems’ and tiredness.

Dame Vivienne Westwood

British designer Dame Vivienne Westwood died at the age of 81 on December 29 at her Clapham home

Dame Vivienne Westwood, the godmother of punk who changed the fashion world forever, died at the age of 81 on December 29 at her Clapham, South London home.

She was one of the most influential British fashion designers of the 20th century, cultivating the punk rock movement with her unapologetically political designs.

As the person who dressed the Sex Pistols, Dame Vivienne was synonymous with 1970s punk rock, a rebel spirit that stuck with her throughout her career including going commando when receiving her OBE from the Queen.

Incredibly her career began when she was a primary school teacher, making jewellery and then dresses in her spare time after marrying Hoover engineer Derek Westwood.

Her life changed when she met and married second husband Malcolm McLaren, with the couple finding fame with their ‘Sex’ boutique on the King’s Road and dressing bands including the New York Dolls and then the Pistols.

And later in life her activism on climate change and opposing fracking, as well as her support for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange dominated her work.

Speaking as her death was announced, her third husband and creative partner Andreas Kronthaler said: ‘I will continue with Vivienne in my heart. We have been working until the end and she has given me plenty of things to get on with. Thank you darling.’

Robbie Coltrane

Robbie Coltrane died on October 14 at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert, Scotland, at the age of 72

Actor Robbie Coltrane died on October 14 at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert, Scotland, at the age of 72.

The Scottish star, whose real name was Anthony Robert McMillan, was best known for playing the beloved Hogwarts gamekeeper Hagrid and starring as criminal psychologist Dr Eddie ‘Fitz’ Fitzgerald in the 90s ITV drama.

He was awarded an OBE in 2006 for services to drama, and won the Best Actor BAFTA three years in a row for his role as Dr Fitz as well as two BAFTA Scotland Awards. He even voiced the BBC adaptation of King Charles’ children’s book, The Old Man Of Lochnagar.

The 72-year-old was rumoured to have had serious health issues after he was forced to pull out of London’s Comic Con in June due to medical reasons.

Coltrane left behind his former wife Rhona Gemmell who he married in 1999, sister Annie Rae and his children Spencer, who was born in 1992 and Alice, born in 1998.

Pope Benedict XVI

Former Pope Benedict, who died on Saturday aged 95, was the first pontiff in 600 years to resign

Former Pope Benedict died aged 95, after long battle with illness on December 31.

The ex-pontiff who became first to resign in 600 years when he stood down nine years ago passed away in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican.

Benedict will be best remembered for shocking the world on February 11, 2013, when he announced in Latin that he was resigning, telling cardinals he was too old and frail to lead an institution with more than 1.3 billion members.

It was always going to be tough following his charismatic predecessor Pope John Paul II, who died in 2005, and Benedict admitted to difficulties in an emotional farewell.

‘There were moments of joy and light, but also moments that were not easy … There were moments … when the seas were rough and the wind blew against us and it seemed that the Lord was sleeping,’ Benedict told his last general audience, a gathering of more than 150,000 people.

After the election of Pope Francis on March 13, Benedict moved into a converted convent on the Vatican grounds to spend his final years in prayer, reading, playing the piano and receiving friends.

Dame Deborah James

BBC podcast host Deborah James passed away following her five-year battle with bowel cancer on June 28

Dame Deborah James died on June 28, following a five-year battle with bowel cancer.

After being diagnosed with the disease, she started advocating to raise awareness of the condition, as well as money to donate towards researching a cure under her persona of Bowel Babe.

The podcaster and campaigner revealed in early May this year that she had stopped active treatment and was receiving end-of-life care at her parents’ home in Woking, with her husband Sebastien and their two children on hand.

In her final weeks, Dame Deborah raised more than £6.7 million for research through her BowelBabe fund and was made a dame for her ‘tireless’ work improving awareness of the disease.

For her efforts, she was made a dame, and later said she felt ‘honoured and shocked’ to even be considered for the honour.

Her first book, F*** You Cancer: How To Face The Big C, Live Your Life And Still Be Yourself, was published in 2018. Her second, How To Live When You Could Be Dead was published this year.

Dame Olivia Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John, left, in one of her last public appearances in 2019. The actress died on August 8 aged 73

Olivia Newton-John died on August 8 at the age of 73 after a brave and extraordinarily public decades-long battle with cancer.

The actress famously beat breast cancer twice but was diagnosed again in 2017.

Born in England to an MI5 agent father, Newton-John and her family moved to Melbourne, Australia, when she was six. She returned to the UK as a teenager to pursue a singing career and starred in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974.

Her big break in Grease came four years later. She famously resisted the part, at first turning down producer Allan Carr because she thought she was too old for the role.

He won her over, and adapted the script to make the character an Australian ex-pat to accommodate her accent.

When the movie was released, it was an immediate, international hit. After Grease, Newton-John’s acting career faltered. She appeared alongside Lattanzi in the movie Xanadu in 1980, but it failed to impress in the box office.

She took three years off work following the birth of her daughter in 1986, then was struck with her first cancer diagnosis in 1992 when she was 44. After her first diagnosis, she devoted her career largely to charity and humanitarian work.

She spent the last few years at home, campaigning for animals’ rights and raising money for her charity online.

Bernard Cribbins

Bernard Cribbins, pictured with his wife Gillian, who passed away last year, died aged 93 in July

Bernard Cribbins – the voice and face of childhood TV and film for generations of Britons – died at the age of 93 on July 27 – just months after his beloved wife of almost 70 years passed away.

Oldham-born Mr Cribbins, whose mother was a cotton weaver and father was a ‘champion clog fighter’, became one of the most versatile and popular entertainers of his generation, managing to be a favourite on children’s TV while also starring in the bawdy Carry On films.

He joined the Old Rep in Birmingham aged just 14 and enjoyed a 79-year career in showbusiness aside from a spell in the Parachute Regiment after the Second World War.

In later life, he beat prostate cancer and survived triple heart bypass surgery in 1997. He also suffered a spinal injury that left him unable to walk long distances. This is why his much-loved CBeebies series Old Jack’s Boat was filmed with him sat down telling stories of the sea that enthralled young viewers.

The British star was in many Carry On films, Fawlty Towers, Doctor Who, narrated The Wombles, Jackanory and was in the classic 1970 film adaptation of The Railway Children.

In 2011 he received an OBE for services to drama for his long career. Speaking at the investiture ceremony, he said providing the voices of characters such as Uncle Bulgaria, Tobermory and Orinoco was simple because of how The Wombles was written.

Other celebrity deaths in 2022

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