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Dame Patricia Routledge RIP

100 replies

Mycatiscute · 03/10/2025 11:37

Also known as, Mrs Bucket (pronounced bouquet) What an actress of her time! I still enjoy watching ‘Keeping up Appearances’ now 96 wonderful years. Rest in Peace. ❤️

OP posts:
YourBrickTiger · 03/10/2025 13:48

Absolutely loved her as Hyacinth. My late father had a very over the top sister, and that was her nickname. They were like chalk and cheese and he used to hide upstairs when he saw her 'flouncing' down the driveway, skirts blowing in the wind. 😆

Achewyhamster · 03/10/2025 13:52

YourBrickTiger · 03/10/2025 13:48

Absolutely loved her as Hyacinth. My late father had a very over the top sister, and that was her nickname. They were like chalk and cheese and he used to hide upstairs when he saw her 'flouncing' down the driveway, skirts blowing in the wind. 😆

We nicknamed my aunt hyacinth as she's the double of her (in standards not looks)
She was married to my uncle Richard with made it even funnier
For some reason,I became rose! (May have something to do with the length of my skirts as a teenager)

Rip Patricia,a life we'll lived

BatchCookBabe · 03/10/2025 13:53

Good age! But yeah, R.I.P. She was a very good actress!

YourBrickTiger · 03/10/2025 13:59

Achewyhamster · 03/10/2025 13:52

We nicknamed my aunt hyacinth as she's the double of her (in standards not looks)
She was married to my uncle Richard with made it even funnier
For some reason,I became rose! (May have something to do with the length of my skirts as a teenager)

Rip Patricia,a life we'll lived

Love this. My aunt was so similar to her. Everything had a spin on it - her stories were ALWAYS exaggerated, things in the family (like her kids divorces etc) were swept under the carpet in embarrassment because 'she knew from the beginning they were no good' and she would tell my cousins stories about how helpful she was to my Mum after my Dad died which was sooooo far removed from the truth it was laughable. Even her accent was exaggerated. Her friend Sally (Irish accent) became 'Selly' as she tried desperately to sound posh. 😅 She worked as a Samaritan for a while and my cousin took the mick out of her because her standard line was 'you're just going to have to get over it'. She famously said to one caller when he rang and asked her about her knickers over the phone 'I know what you're doing Trevor! You're masturbating aren't you!!!?' 😂

MrsSkylerWhite · 03/10/2025 14:06

Lampzade · 03/10/2025 11:40

How sad
Keeping Up Appearances is one of my all time favourite British comedies .

I don’t think passing at 96 is sad.
She had a long life, very well lived. Thanks for the memories 😊

YourBrickTiger · 03/10/2025 14:19

MrsSkylerWhite · 03/10/2025 14:06

I don’t think passing at 96 is sad.
She had a long life, very well lived. Thanks for the memories 😊

Careful. I said this after the lady who played the mum in Mary Poppins died. THREE of my friends deleted me from facebook on the premise that some of their parents were old and it didn't make it any less sad, which is not what I was saying at all.

BatchCookBabe · 03/10/2025 14:22

YourBrickTiger · 03/10/2025 14:19

Careful. I said this after the lady who played the mum in Mary Poppins died. THREE of my friends deleted me from facebook on the premise that some of their parents were old and it didn't make it any less sad, which is not what I was saying at all.

Your friends sound a bit over-sensitive!

YourBrickTiger · 03/10/2025 14:24

BatchCookBabe · 03/10/2025 14:22

Your friends sound a bit over-sensitive!

I asked the person whose thread it was to delete my comment which said similar to this one above 'I don't find it sad when a 100 year old dies...a full life and my father was only 52'.

Bam, 3 of them deleted and blocked me immediately.

Achewyhamster · 03/10/2025 14:45

YourBrickTiger · 03/10/2025 13:59

Love this. My aunt was so similar to her. Everything had a spin on it - her stories were ALWAYS exaggerated, things in the family (like her kids divorces etc) were swept under the carpet in embarrassment because 'she knew from the beginning they were no good' and she would tell my cousins stories about how helpful she was to my Mum after my Dad died which was sooooo far removed from the truth it was laughable. Even her accent was exaggerated. Her friend Sally (Irish accent) became 'Selly' as she tried desperately to sound posh. 😅 She worked as a Samaritan for a while and my cousin took the mick out of her because her standard line was 'you're just going to have to get over it'. She famously said to one caller when he rang and asked her about her knickers over the phone 'I know what you're doing Trevor! You're masturbating aren't you!!!?' 😂

Hahaha hahaha

Mine was posh accent,posh clothes/car/house (which was immaculate) and the fact she shopped in netto but would put it all in m&s bags so the neighbours wouldn't know she's been to netto!

She was known to do things like have some curtains made and tell the neighbours she'd bought the fabric from posh shop (she had got it from there-it was 'seconds' fabric but had the 'right' label)

She once bought something (I seem to remember it being a fridge) and when it was delivered,it was in an unmarked van-i pity that poor sod who took THAT phone call (this happened in kup-did we laugh over that!)

She also had the slimline white telephone with the last number redial and the same kitchen pots/pans/cups/kettle etc as hyacinth (and the same ornaments/sofa/colour scheme!)

When she divorced uncle richard (also known as uncle dick) it all came crashing down around her ears-they where in really bad debt and she was going to lose everything

Did this stop her?

Of course not!

She hoicked up her bra straps and moved into a caravan (if this caravan had been a hotel,it would have been 5*+) and carried on with her own version of Mrs Bucket,head held high and telling off her neighbours while keeping up her appearances to her standards

We adored her-you knew there would be no 'common' presents for you at birthdays and Christmas's-she once famously refused to buy me some jewellery at index (remember them?)

She went to argos and bought me Elizabeth Duke instead! (Same price,just a 'posher' box)

(and a box of Ferrero rocher as 'these are the chocolates the am-bass-a-dor has these at alllll his functions!' to be given a box was a massive treat as they where expensive)

Idontknowhatnametochoose · 03/10/2025 14:47

Oh no. She was brilliant. KUA was being made during the time I was at secondary school and watching it helped me through a very dark time of my life.

RIP Patricia..

YourBrickTiger · 03/10/2025 14:50

Achewyhamster · 03/10/2025 14:45

Hahaha hahaha

Mine was posh accent,posh clothes/car/house (which was immaculate) and the fact she shopped in netto but would put it all in m&s bags so the neighbours wouldn't know she's been to netto!

She was known to do things like have some curtains made and tell the neighbours she'd bought the fabric from posh shop (she had got it from there-it was 'seconds' fabric but had the 'right' label)

She once bought something (I seem to remember it being a fridge) and when it was delivered,it was in an unmarked van-i pity that poor sod who took THAT phone call (this happened in kup-did we laugh over that!)

She also had the slimline white telephone with the last number redial and the same kitchen pots/pans/cups/kettle etc as hyacinth (and the same ornaments/sofa/colour scheme!)

When she divorced uncle richard (also known as uncle dick) it all came crashing down around her ears-they where in really bad debt and she was going to lose everything

Did this stop her?

Of course not!

She hoicked up her bra straps and moved into a caravan (if this caravan had been a hotel,it would have been 5*+) and carried on with her own version of Mrs Bucket,head held high and telling off her neighbours while keeping up her appearances to her standards

We adored her-you knew there would be no 'common' presents for you at birthdays and Christmas's-she once famously refused to buy me some jewellery at index (remember them?)

She went to argos and bought me Elizabeth Duke instead! (Same price,just a 'posher' box)

(and a box of Ferrero rocher as 'these are the chocolates the am-bass-a-dor has these at alllll his functions!' to be given a box was a massive treat as they where expensive)

OMG it all sounds so familiar 😂Are we related??? Especially the did it stop her? Of course not! part 😂

I know this is no laughing matter - but typical of my aunt. She took liver cancer and was in hospital, operation etc, very sick understandably. But of course she had to go one step further and be interviewed about her experience for television and radio and social media. Having to one up everyone else who had it of course.

Lilacspring · 03/10/2025 15:10

Loved all the characters she played,my favourite was kitty.R.I.P Patricia xxx❤️

Kevinbaconsrealwife · 03/10/2025 15:13

Rest in peace lovely lady….i absolutely adored her…. Brilliant actress xx

scalt · 03/10/2025 15:30

"Tell God it's Bouquet!"

As a teenager, I remember finding the Keeping Up Appearances very predictable and ceasing to be funny because of this; also I found it hard to laugh about people who were too weak to refuse Hyacinth's invitations, like Elizabeth and Emmet and the vicar, because I used to be like that. However, that's hardly the fault of the great Patricia. We never did see a candlelight supper.

Although Routledge loved acting in the show, and said "the words just flew off the page", I read in a book about the making of Keeping Up Appearances that some of the scripts (written by Roy Clarke) were so unrealistic and impractical, that Routledge refused to act them at first, and Roy Clarke was notorious for never watching his own shows; so the director Harold Snoad re-wrote many of them, which caused a lot of arguments between Roy Clarke, Harold Snoad, and the BBC.

Idontknowhatnametochoose · 03/10/2025 15:34

Aside from the wonderful Hyacinth, I absolutely loved how Onslow and Daisy's car always backfired. It didn't matter how many times I'd seen it, it always made me laugh and still would now. To me that was one of the best running gags.

rurbane · 03/10/2025 15:41

Very talented actress who played people that seemed relatable. I'd forgotten about the Talking Heads episode, will have to rewatch that, box of tissues by my side.

Auburngal · 03/10/2025 15:53

Channel 5 have one of her last interviews in a tribute show at 7:30pm,

My three favourite ladies were Queen Elizabeth II, my late DGM and Patricia Routledge all died aged 96. That’s spooky

Evasmissingletter · 03/10/2025 16:01

Love kitty. “ I've had my share of gynaecological gyp. I still can't polka without wincing, but we're spunky in Cheadle, we totter on.”

Achewyhamster · 03/10/2025 16:11

YourBrickTiger · 03/10/2025 14:50

OMG it all sounds so familiar 😂Are we related??? Especially the did it stop her? Of course not! part 😂

I know this is no laughing matter - but typical of my aunt. She took liver cancer and was in hospital, operation etc, very sick understandably. But of course she had to go one step further and be interviewed about her experience for television and radio and social media. Having to one up everyone else who had it of course.

Haha

I don't think we know the same lady but there are two of them out in the wild

If my aunt had been ill,she would have done the same thing and god help anyone who tried to stop her

I remember accidently meeting (then) prince Charles (I saw a bloke over the road and thought I knew him,so walked past and said 'alright mate?' The penny dropped as i got down the road,I have told this story before)

She got wind of this and dined out for years on this story (details changed a lot-I apparently walked past,saw him,did a curtesy and walked on after he blessed me!)

I've never done a curtesy in my life but that didnt stop her at all!

I think she would have passed out if id met the queen!

Another story is she had gone into m&s and as she walked out,her knicker elastic snapped and they fell down to her ankles

She didnt miss a beat,she just stepped out of them,folded them up and put them in her bag before going commando to her car and drove home!

She made me laugh with her antics

TonTonMacoute · 03/10/2025 17:27

I have to agree that dying peacefully in your sleep at 96 is no bad thing. I heard her interviewed recently and she was as sharp and with it as ever.

Amazing talent, brilliant actress and wonderful singer, she has left a magnificent body of work behind her that has brought pleasure to millions. The VW/PR combo which produced Kitty is probably my favourite

TY78910 · 03/10/2025 17:32

She’ll always be a hero to me. It might sound crazy but she taught me English (to an extent). Keeping up Appearances on DVD were included in some kind of magazine in my country and I brought them all with me when my family moved. I knew barely any English, used to slap on Mrs Bucket with no subtitles and watch it for hours on end. Very sad news.

OhNoNotSusan · 03/10/2025 17:40

she made it to 96
good going

Cantthinkofadifferentname · 03/10/2025 17:42

No-one else has referenced it, but fab as Clinty Clintridge, one of the teacher in 'to sir with love'

Messingwithmyheadagain · 03/10/2025 17:45

I can’t get my head around her being 96! RIP - you will be remembered 💐

Memorable · 03/10/2025 17:53

Oh my, the Keeping Up Appearances where Hyacinth gets drunk on his lordships gooseberry wine is one of my favourite comedies ever ever. She was totally brilliant