As Australians continue to mourn the loss of showbiz icon Bert Newton, more details surrounding his state funeral service have come to light, including how to watch the ceremony.
WATCH: Julia Morris’ Bert Newton Tribute
Bert will be given his official send off on Friday November 12th at 10am at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne, according to entertainment reporter and Bert’s longtime friend, Peter Ford.
“There is cap of 500 guests. The Mass will shown on screens at Federation Square and will be live streamed,” Peter wrote on Twitter.
Major networks including Nine, Seven, and 10 are all sharing footage from the funeral.
“The State Funeral Service for Bert Newton will be broadcast live on Channel 9 and 9Now from 9.30am this Friday, November 12,” Nine said in a press release. “Tony Jones and Alicia Loxley will host this special presentation live from St Patrick’s Cathedral in East Melbourne.”
Special live coverage from the service will also begin from 9:15am AEDT on both Channel 7 and 7plus
“Following extensive coverage on Sunrise across the morning, The Morning Show’s Kylie Gillies and Larry Emdur will co-anchor Seven’s broadcast from outside St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne, where Newton’s wife Patti will be joined by family, friends and colleagues to pay their final respects to the award-winning entertainer and television icon,” a statement read.
“A special edition of Seven’s Morning News will immediately follow the service, featuring the poignant highlights from the funeral as well as the day’s other headlines from both Australia and abroad.”
In addition, the live stream will be shared on Channel 10 along with “a very special edition” of morning show Studio 10.
“Join us for a very special edition of Studio 10 next Friday, Nov 12, as we celebrate the life of Bert Newton with golden moments from the Channel 10 archive, memories from his friends and co-stars, and his state funeral live,” a statement read via the official Studio 10 Instagram account.
It was Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews who first confirmed that Bert would be honoured with a state funeral, deeming the late performer an “icon, a larrikin and a born entertainer”.
“We will all have an opportunity to honour his memory, his talent and his achievements at a state funeral,” he said.
“Bert will live on in the memories of an entire generation.”
News of Bert’s death broke on Saturday 30th October. The 83-year-old had been battling ill health for a while and had recently had his leg amputated.
He is survived by his beloved wife Patti and two children Lauren and Matthew, the latter of whom will not be attending the service.
Patti recently cleared up any rumours of a feud between Matthew and the rest of his family, telling the Daily Mail that the New York based actor was simply not returning home for the funeral due to “logistics”.
Despite Matthew not attending the funeral in person, Bert’s long-time friend and entertainment reporter Peter Ford revealed that a message from Matthew will be read out during the proceedings.
Sources close to Matthew recently revealed to New Idea that the actor is looking to return home after the funeral when things have settled down – to avoid distracting from his father’s service.
“As Matt and Patti begin to work out their next steps, he has told her he’s willing to bring Cat home when the chaos has calmed down to remember Bert privately as a family,” said the source.
Patti, 76, also recently stoically addressed the public following her husband’s death, saying his passing was “very, very devastating”.
“All our hearts are breaking because he was just the most wonderful man,” the 76-year-old told reporters outside her family home in Hawthorn East.
“I left at ten past seven, and I was just pulling around to come into my drive and I get the call to say he’d taken his last breath at 7.22pm.
“So I missed him, but maybe he didn’t want me to be there for his last breath.”
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