Final farewell to Floyd

Popular TV chef Keith Floyd was cremated yesterday in a coffin made of banana leaves in a service attended by around 300 people including his son, Patrick, 40, daughter Poppy, 25, and two of his four ex-wives.

Leading tributes, Poppy – who was estranged from her father for 10 years, but reconciled with him shortly before his death– said: "Dad, old bean, you would have definitely preferred to be a rock star called Elvis rather than a chef called Keith Floyd

“Today we would like to remember your laughter, your sharpness and curiosity of mind, those dark beady eyes, the burning spirit and effervescence of your philosophy towards life.”

There was a notable absence of other chefs at the service in Bristol, but Keith’s longstanding friends in the culinary industry Marco Pierre White and Jean-Christophe Novelli are understood to have contributed toward the service and subsequent wake.

Keith died of a heart attack on September 14. He was 65.