Family and friends of Charles Bronson’s ex wife Paula Williamson arrived at her funeral today dressed in pink and carrying tins of cat food.
The former Coronation Street actress is being laid to rest on what would have been her 39th birthday at St Saviour’s Church, Smallthorne, Stoke-on-Trent.
Ms Williamson died after she was found unconscious at her home on her bed next to two bags of ‘white powder.’
Bronson – who has been behind bars for the past 44 years said he would not be attending the funeral, saying it should be a private affair.
Family and friends of Charles Bronson’s ex wife Paula Williamson arrived at her funeral today dressed in pink and carrying tins of cat food
The former Coronation Street actress is being laid to rest on what would have been her 39th birthday at St Saviour’s Church, Smallthorne, Stoke-on-Trent
Her family asked mourners to wear a ‘splash of pink – her favourite colour – and donations in her memory will go to either the RSPCA or charity Iris’s Cats In Need.
It is reported that she had given her mother Hazel instructions for her funeral, saying she wanted an open casket and for her coffin to be taken to the crematorium in a horse-drawn carriage.
Her spokesman said: ‘A post-mortem has been conducted on her body and it has now been released to her family for her funeral.
‘The funeral itself will be as flamboyant as her life was. She had many ups and downs but we’ll be there to celebrate her life.’
An order of service for today’s funeral being held in Stoke-on-Trent. Ms Williamson was found dead on July 29
It is reported that she had given her mother Hazel instructions for her funeral, saying she wanted an open casket and for her coffin to be taken to the crematorium in a horse-drawn carriage
Ms Williamson, who said last month she and Mr Bronson had applied to have their marriage annulled, had played minor roles in Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
She met the notorious criminal in prison in late 2016, and they were married in November 2017.
At an inquest opening earlier this month, it was heard that Williamson – also known as Paula Joy Salvador – had a previous history of ‘anxiety and depression’ and been through ‘detox’ last year.
Staffordshire Police had previously confirmed the death was not suspicious.
Miss Williamson married Britain’s most violent prisoner at HMP Wakefield in West Yorkshire, with Bronson handcuffed to the warder for two hours during the ceremony.
Ms Williamson (left) married Britain’s most violent prisoner (right) at HMP Wakefield in West Yorkshire, with Bronson handcuffed to the warder for two hours during the ceremony
The funeral was held for Ms Williamson today at St Saviour’s Church, Smallthorne, Stoke-on-Trent (pictured). It comes three weeks after she was found unconscious at her home on her bed next to two bags of ‘white powder’
But their relationship quickly fell apart and Bronson, 66, was left outraged by a photograph of the actress with a man’s head in her breasts on holiday in Tenerife.
The couple’s marriage was set to be annulled in June, a process that normally takes two weeks, but it is not clear if it went through before her death.
The marriage was never consummated, and unions in England and Wales are allowed to be annulled if newlyweds have not had sex since tying the knot.
Williamson’s death came on the same day Bronson announced he wanted to marry a pensioner called Joan when he is released from prison.
Bronson is one of the country’s most notorious prisoners and has spent the majority of the past four decades imprisoned for a series of violent crimes.
In recent years he has turned his hand to art and changed his surname from Bronson to Salvador in tribute to the Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali.
He first struck up a relationship with Miss Williamson, who also had roles in Emmerdale and Hollyoaks, in 2013 after they started writing to one another.
Bronson had previously said he wanted to have children with Miss Williamson, claiming he would be the ‘best dad in the world’.
He was first locked up for armed robbery in 1974, but during his time inside he has taken hostages in ten prison sieges and attacked at least 20 prison officers.
Last November he was cleared of trying to seriously harm a prison governor after being accused of threatening to gouge the man’s eyes out at HMP Wakefield.