Lauren Newton has given a touching tribute to her father, Bert Newton, at his state funeral at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne.
WATCH: Bert Newton sings ‘Happy Birthday’ to young grandson
The Australian television legend passed away on October 30 aged 83 after a lengthy health battle.
In May, the father-of-two’s health declined when he had his leg amputated following complications from an infected toe.
Lauren and her brood of six kids, sons Monty, Alby and Sam, and daughters Eva, Lola and Perla, were all in attendance to say their final goodbyes to the beloved father and grandfather.
Prior to her father’s death, Lauren took to Instagram to share a sweet family photo of her father in the hospital surrounded by four of his beloved grandchildren.
In the snap, everyone has big grins on their faces, with Bert’s smile the widest and most elated out of them all.
Unfortunately, this was the last time the kids and Lauren could visit Bert in the hospital due to Melbourne’s lockdown.
“So glad we got to have lots of visits before lockdown. The kids are missing Poppy 💙,” Lauren penned alongside the sweet snap.
The television icon’s state funeral was attended by 500 mourners, with Bert’s family, friends, former showbusiness colleagues and some of the biggest names in the Australian entertainment industry spotted among the crowd.
Bert’s wife Patti threw the cameras a sweet wave as she arrived at the cathedral with Lauren, son-in-law Matt Welsh and six grandchildren in tow.
During the ceremony, a touching speech penned by Lauren was read aloud to mourners.
“I’m not sure where to even begin, or if I could ever put into words how much I love my dad,” Lauren’s heartwrenching speech read.
“From the love I felt as a child to watching him laugh and play games with my own children, he made us feel so special and always brought laughter and fun to everything we did.
“When I was a little girl I always felt I was so lucky, I had two dads – one on TV and one at home. He was the same funny, warm, wonderful person everyone watched on TV, but at home he was even better and I am so grateful for the relationship I had with him.
“He was such a fun dad and one of my favourite games with him as a little girl was called Donald Duck. He would put me on his shoulders and run around the house yelling Donald every time we came to a doorway and I would drop down and yell back ‘duck’.”
WATCH: Eddie McGuire’s Eulogy at Bert Newton’s Funeral
“It always involved squealing and hysterical laughter and it was so so much fun until one day when he got distracted and forgot to call ‘Donald’.
“Obviously Mum never let us play this game again but it is a memory that I will have forever and I can still hear the laughter from us both.
“Family always came first for dad and he included us in everything that he did. He and mum were a team and he wanted all of us around and to be part of everything he did. He always made me feel very special, and I knew I could always count on him.”
“When my car broke down on the freeway and I had to wait hours for the tow truck dad raced to be by my side and wait with me, with a diet coke in his hand for us both. That was him. He was always there when I needed him, and he was always interested in everything I did, no matter how small.
“He was the greatest dad I could have wished for and he has been such a huge part of my children’s lives as well. We had so many special times together, and I am so glad that he had the chance to get to know Sam and Eva, Lola, Monty, Perla and Alby.
“They loved Poppy so much and his love for them was very clear to see. He spent hours playing games with them. They played everything from ‘mums and dads’ to ‘schools’.
“His favourite games were ‘hospitals and hotels’ and Mum and I wondered why it was always those two games he liked the best – and then we realised it was because all he had to do was lie on the bed and rest while the kids played around him.
“The kids also loved doing concerts for him, and he was their most captive audience. He even got the job of introducing them and I would laugh to myself, thinking they have no idea how lucky they were. He even put his good voice on as if he was doing the Logies. He loved it. And I could tell it was one of his favourite gigs ever.”
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