Spike Milligan’s grave at centre of family dispute
A month ago, the grave where the 83-year-old was buried in March last year lacked a headstone, and was notable only as an unkempt patch of rough grass.
James Milligan the comedian's son from his eight-year relationship with Margaret Maughan was appalled. Two weeks ago he and his mother went to St Thomas' church in Winchelsea, East Sussex, and placed an 18-inch angel on a plinth as a temporary headstone.
But by last week, the angel had disappeared and a plain wooden cross "more fitting for a pauper than the clown prince of comedy", as a local newspaper observed, was in its place. It bore one word: "Spike."
Then on Sunday, the cross had mysteriously gone and the angel had been restored. A wicker basket of fresh plants had joined three pots of wilting flowers on the grave, with a card that read: "Lots of love from your children Laura, Sean, Síle, Jane and Grandchildren."
A local said: "God knows what's going on. Spike may be having a chuckle about it all from on high, but you'd expect one of our greatest comedians to be treated a bit better than this."
Mrs Milligan, 58, and the comic's children from previous marriages have been divided over his estate.
James Milligan, a 26-year-old events organiser, claims he was "frozen out" by the family after his father's death in February last year, and that he was not invited to the funeral in Rye or the burial in Winchelsea.
The whole situation would have amused the famous comedian, whose stock-in-trade was an iconoclastic disregard for officialdom. He once described the Prince of Wales, a close friend and lifetime fan, as a "little grovelling bastard" at a comedy awards ceremony. By way of an apology of sorts he later sent a fax to the Prince, asking: "I suppose a knighthood is out of the question now?"
Two years ago he was given that very knighthood, but it was only an honorary one, because Milligan had adopted his father's Irish nationality and refused to swear the oath of allegiance to Queen Elizabeth.
When Prince Charles pointed out even he had to take the oath, Milligan retorted: "Yes, but it's your mother, isn't it? You don't get board and lodging at Buckingham Palace if you don't swear the oath."
Before his death, Milligan joked that he wanted his headstone engraved with the words: "I told you I was ill."
