Camilla and Elton John pay tribute to Paul O'Grady

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While we’ve been hearing a lot from other people about the many ways Paul O’Grady touched their lives, we’ve also been hearing from the man himself through interviews and conversations he has had over the years.

He told TV host Michael Parkinson in 2002 about how he developed his drag persona, Lily Savage, in the 1980s and how the character’s roughness was completely unprecedented compared to the polish of other public feminine figures of the time.

“Her heels were scuffed, she had holes in her tights and she was a divorced prostitute with two children, who had a fondness for booze and drugs,” O’Grady said, to much laughter.

In an episode of BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, he spoke of the clear demarcation between himself and Lily and his own nature as a private but determined person.

“I’m like a pit bull - once I get my teeth into something, I’m not letting go until I’ve either conquered it or I’ve achieved it”.

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As we wrap up our coverage following the sad news of Paul O’Grady’s death, here’s a recap of some of the tributes that have been paid for the drag icon and TV personality.

Sir Elton John remembered him as a “brilliant entertainer” and thanked O’Grady “for all the joy you brought into the world”.

A statement issued via the Royal Family's official Twitter account says his "warm heart and infectious humour lit up the lives of so many”.

Among O’Grady’s friends who have commented on his passing is Carol Vorderman, who says he made people feel like they “were alive”.

Liverpool broadcaster Pete Price described him as “one of life’s characters” and a “mega talent”, who “never suffered fools gladly”

Human rights campaigner Peter Tetchell praised O’Grady’s activism, particularly when it came to the LGBTQ+ community, while the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, of which O’Grady was a patron, lauded him for his work caring for animals.

UK drag artist Danny Beard thanked O’Grady for paving the way for them and others like them.

And deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner - who is filling in for Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister's Questions - told MPs O'Grady was a "national treasure".

LGBT campaigner Peter Tatchell describes the moment police raided a London gay pub in the 1980s.

The police arrived at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern wearing rubber gloves - to which Paul O'Grady remarked "good, you're here to help us do the washing up".

Tatchell says before his death Paul O'Grady was about to launch a campaign for a police apology.

We've heard a lot of tributes reference Paul O'Grady's love of animals and his work with Battersea Cats and Dogs Home in particular.

But his dedication didn't stop there. In 2011, O'Grady took in a baby lamb who had been rescued from a dustbin by the RSPCA.

The month-old lamb, named Winston, had been treated for an ulcerated eye before moving to Kent to join a flock of sheep the TV star already owned.

"'Winston is a big, strong, healthy boy now - nothing like the state he was in when they found him," he told the BBC at the time.

"He's skipping around and has got his own barn so he is very happy."

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Chris Sherwood, chief executive of the RSPCA, says: "His tireless campaigning saw Paul recognised with an RSPCA Animal Hero Award for his outstanding contribution to animal welfare.

"The thoughts of all at the RSPCA are with his loved ones and our friends at Battersea at this difficult and sad time."

As 5 Live’s Dotun Adebayo broke the news of O’Grady’s passing overnight, floods of listeners called in to pay respects and tributes.

Shirley in Bexhill regularly listened to O’Grady’s radio programmes and says, “he was such an understanding chap”.

“It was as if you were at home with him… he made everybody feel so comfortable and comforted,” Shirley adds.

Mel in the Wirral saw O’Grady perform as Lily Savage multiple times as the Empire Theatre in Liverpool.

“He was so funny… he was just made for pantomime," she says.

“Not just in Liverpool, a lot of people around the world will miss him because he was a good man, he did a lot for charity and he had a great heart,” Mel adds.

Matthew in Warrington says O’Grady is a “Scouse export we can be very, very proud of”.

Matthew stresses how much of an impact O’Grady has had on the city of Liverpool and “how proud of him we all are for being that funny, kind, caring, compassionate humanitarian man”.

Rachel in Coventry says she has very fond memories of spending weekends with her grandmother as a child, watching O’Grady’s Channel 4 show.

She remembers a time when he was playing an electrical organ and despite him accidentally falling off the stool, the organ kept playing.

“It was just a brilliant unscripted moment that I think only he could pull off,” she says.

While Paul wasn’t born in Liverpool - though many think he was - he became an icon on the city.

Here at the Royal Albert Dock his actual birthplace, Birkenhead, is visible over the River Mersey.

And it’s here that people have come to pay their respects thanks to a very special, and quite funny, portrait of him.

The Paul O’Grady portrait, made of Jelly Beans, has become somewhat of a local landmark.

I walk my dog almost daily around the Albert Dock and it’s rare that I walk past without spotting someone posing for a photograph next to it.

So naturally, as people pass today, many are stopping for an extra few moments to pay their respects to Paul.

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Among them are Clive and Diane Ballard, on holiday in Liverpool from Essex.

Diane said: “He was such a comedian. He had that great sense of humour. He seemed to be a warm hearted person that anyone would get along with.”

Clive added: “We loved him for Lilly Savage. Drag Queens are always such characters and he was a right character.”

Martin Davies, visiting Liverpool from Newport, South Wales, is among the many who stopped to get pictures with the portrait.

He said: “I think people just loved him because he was himself. He was so genuine.”

Nathaniel J Hall - who starred in the Channel 4 drama series It's A Sin which explored the HIV/Aids crisis in the 1980s - says Paul O'Grady showed everyone "how important it is to be bold and to be brave".

He was "a dreamboat... He was a kind and compassionate person and his charity work with HIV organisations and dog charities showed that."

"He spoke out about Tory austerity passionately and you could see his roots and grounding growing up in Liverpool."

"He showed how important it is to be bold and to be brave. His passing reminds people that life is short, to grab the bull by the horns," Hall says.

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Outside Battersea Cats and Dogs Home Paul O’Grady is remembered by staff.

Security officer Ceohas Adinkrah says he would see him on a near-daily basis.

He said he always had time for all of the centre's workers and volunteers and described him as "very nice, very polite and nice to have around”.

Crohas tells me Paul’s face would light up whenever he was with animals: “He loved the dogs, he just loved the dogs."

He adds: “It’s just very sad because I’ve known him for about three years and it’s just such a great loss.”

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O’Grady was cast away by the BBC in 2003 and described his upbringing in an Irish family in Birkenhead, which was dominated by women as the men were away a lot in the merchant navy.

“They were all characters,” he said. “They were all born in extreme poverty”.

O’Grady recalls being inspired by American burlesque and by comedians such as Ken Dodd and Frankie Howerd.

After a brief career in social services, during which he moved to London, his drag act, Lily Savage, “reared her ugly head” in 1985, when he was asked to host a show at a local bar.

“Wild horses wouldn’t have got me up as myself, there’s just no way”, said O’Grady. “I would have felt far too vulnerable”.

He added that Lily changed the drag scene in the sense that before her, queens has been depicted as sexless matrons.

He also spoke of how there was always a clear line between Paul and Lily when he became a TV personality in his own right later in his career.

“I always said I’d give her up when the public didn’t want her anymore and now people are saying ‘we’ve had enough of you, when’s Lily coming back?’”

Of himself, O’Grady said he was “like a pitbull – once I get my teeth into something, I’m not letting go until I’ve either conquered it or I’ve achieved it”.

Listen to the whole programme on BBC Sounds.

It's safe to say Paul O'Grady had some A-list friends, with Sir Elton John remembering him as a "brilliant entertainer", "supporter of LGBTQ+ rights" and someone who was at the forefront of the "fight against Aids and HIV".

The singer thanked O'Grady for many things in an emotional Instagram post, including hosting his and husband David Furnish's "stag party before our civil partnership in 2005" - the year the ceremonies could first be performed in England.

Quote Message: Thank you for all the joy you brought into the world, Paul. You went places nobody had gone before and we will miss you very much." from Sir Elton John

Thank you for all the joy you brought into the world, Paul. You went places nobody had gone before and we will miss you very much."

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Drag queens are as commonplace on TV now as soap stars. But for a long while it seemed Paul O’Grady’s Lily Savage was THE drag queen on screen.

I interviewed him five years ago as shows like Ru Paul’s Drag Race starting to become increasingly popular - bringing the genre to the masses.

"It’s a great thing," he told me, beaming.

"When I started, we were on in all these little lairy boozers and clubs".

Did he miss it?

"It was fabulous! We used to have great comedy drag queens, they were great comics, and they didn’t need the frock."

O’Grady didn’t need the frock either, but with the tributes it’s clear he changed lives by wearing it.

He wasn’t just one star – he was two. And they both made British TV shine a bit brighter.

Paul O'Grady met Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in 2015.

During the visit the Queen and Prince Philip were shown a Corgi who was adopted as a puppy from Battersea Dogs Home.

Unfortunately he returned to Battersea after his owner moved to a care home.

"He's back again," exclaimed the Queen.

National Archive / Gordon Rainsford Archive / Bishopsgate Institute.Copyright: National Archive / Gordon Rainsford Archive / Bishopsgate Institute.

Among the tributes to Paul O’Grady, many people are remembering his appearances at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, one of London’s most famous gay clubs.

The star had an eight-year residency at the venue in the 1980s, in his outrageous drag persona Lily Savage, and was on stage during a notorious police raid in 1987.

The operation was ostensibly prompted by concerns over the use of amyl nitrate, otherwise known as poppers, but was widely believed to be part of a wider movement to close gay clubs during the panic over Aids.

More than 20 officers flooded into the venue wearing rubber gloves, prompting O'Grady to joke: "Well, it looks like we’ve got help with the washing up."

In total, 11 arrests were made - with some reports saying O'Grady was among those taken into custody. According to the National Archives, the raid prompted significant backlash from politicians and the local community.

O'Grady recalled the incident in an Instagram post two years ago.

"They made many arrests but we were a stoic lot and it was business as usual the next night,” he said.

“I was in quite a few police raids all over the country at the time. I was beginning to think it was me – in fact the South London Press, in an extremely homophobic article, called Lily ‘a lascivious act’ which I was very proud of.”

Paul O'Grady will be remembered for many things, not least his work with the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, a UK charity that has been around since the 19th Century.

Most recently, this saw the TV and radio presenter collaborate with Queen Consort Camilla, to celebrate the centre's 160th anniversary.

In a statement, issued via the Royal Family's official Twitter account, we're told the Queen Consort is "deeply saddened to hear of the death of Paul O’Grady".

His "warm heart and infectious humour lit up the lives of so many,” the statement added.

He "worked closely with Her Majesty" in support of the charity, it goes on, alongside an image of the pair with a four-legged friend, "providing lots of laughter and many waggy-tailed memories".

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Peter Laurie, chief executive of London’s well-known Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, has added his voice to the many tributes we've been hearing this morning.

He says O’Grady, who worked with the charity for more than a decade, was “the most remarkably generous and warm-hearted colleague”.

“Paul was a remarkable ambassador not only for our work here at Battersea but for rescue animals everywhere across the country, around the globe,” says Laurie.

“He did more, probably, than almost any other individual not only to promote our work but also the importance of our work in taking in, caring for and finding new, loving homes for dogs and cats.”

“Paul had this almost magical sense of humour and he brought that to Battersea”.

Paul O'Grady rose to fame with his drag queen persona Lily Savage, and went on to present shows such as Blankety Blank.

Later in his career, he brought his love of dogs to the screen.

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TV personality Carol Vorderman says Paul O'Grady was someone who made people feel alive.

"When you were with Paul, and even when you watched him on screen, he was one of those people who just made your blood feel like you were alive," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning.

She added O'Grady had "no fear" - and that he'd been "calling out the TV execs way before [Gary] Lineker, when it wasn't popular".

Quote Message: You had to love him for that, he didn't care - he'd go into the fight, and he'd go into the fight for the good." from Carol Vorderman

You had to love him for that, he didn't care - he'd go into the fight, and he'd go into the fight for the good."

Vorderman herself is known for occasionally speaking out on political issues.

In January, during an appearance on ITV's This Morning, she accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of lacking "accountability and transparency" when it comes to his finances.

The criticism was in reference to a row over a hedge fund Sunak set up before entering politics and was accused of still holding assets in.

After school in the mid Noughties the Paul O’Grady Show was on every day while I had my tea waiting for The Simpsons to start on Channel 4.

It was the best of a traditional chat show mixed in with the chaos of a kids' Saturday morning programme. There were celebs, but also gunge and competitions.

Some of the biggest pop stars of the time performed on his shows making it clear this was a huge promotional opportunity for artists around the world.

O’Grady smoothly managed to make guests from Hollywood to Hollyoaks feel at home.

It was one of those rare entertainment shows that was for all ages just as he was one of those rare entertainment figures for all ages.

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Tributes for Paul O'Grady are continuing to pour in, with gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell saying in a statement that his friend was a “kind and generous humanitarian”.

O’Grady was a patron of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, which promotes human rights, including LGBT+ rights.

Tatchell today praised his friend’s ability to change hearts and minds with his “wit and charm” at a time when “social homophobia was at its height” and the UK was in the grip of the “Aids panic” in the 1980s.

“This was an ugly and unpleasant time for LGBT+ people,” says Tatchell, adding that virtually everyone who met O’Grady knew how kind and generous he was.

Quote Message: Whenever someone was in need, Paul O’Grady stepped in to offer help." from Peter Tatchell

Whenever someone was in need, Paul O’Grady stepped in to offer help."

O’Grady was planning on leading the Foundation’s upcoming campaign calling for the police to apologise for their “historic persecution” of the LGBT+ community, Tatchell says in a statement.