Kate Beckinsale shared poignant snaps from her beloved mother Judy Loe’s funeral on Saturday – after her death in July aged 78.
The actress, 52, took to Instagram earlier this summer to share that she had died in her arms on July 15 after ‘immeasurable suffering’ and admitted she is ‘paralysed’ with grief.
Judy’s cause of death wasn’t confirmed however Kate previously revealed her mother been battling stage four cancer for the last two years.
And this week the funeral took place, with Kate emotionally reflecting on the day as she shared a selection of images from the ceremony which took place at Chiswick House.
She was joined by her daughter Lily, 26, who she shares with her ex Michael Sheen – who also attended to support her.
Lily and Michael were seen sweetly hugging in one of the snaps Kate shared. Kate and Michael were a couple from the mid-1990s to 2003.
In the caption Kate said she still felt ‘blindsided and devastated’ by her death and heartbreakingly admitted she often still goes to call her before realising that no one will answer.
Kate Beckinsale shared poignant snaps from her beloved mother Judy Loe’s funeral on Saturday – after her death in July aged 78 (seen together before her death)
The actress, 52, took to Instagram earlier this summer to share that she had died in her arms on July 15 after ‘immeasurable suffering’ and admitted she is ‘paralysed’ with grief
Kate also shared that her mother hadn’t wanted people to wear black at her funeral and that she wished for a ‘celebration of her life’.
In her lengthy and emotional caption Kate said: ‘Dearest Mama. The fact that you have had to have a funeral at all is wrong and ludicrous. You are the biggest lover of life, the most energetic, the most vital, the most joyous.
‘The only mandate you gave me over the years was that you wanted a celebration of your life and that no one was to wear black so no one did.
‘What I did not anticipate, particularly the night before the funeral where I got two hours sleep on a hard sofa and very much considered not being able to attend because I was afraid I couldn’t handle it, was that someone would be able to have a funeral that was so full of love and happiness and joy, which is all because of you and who you are and what you brought.
‘You are a bridge builder, a hoarder of love, an archiver of precious history ,of respect for years of friendship and my God that showed..
‘I think the hardest thing I have ever had to do was say goodbye to you and I haven’t managed it yet, I still reach for my phone in the early hours of the morning to text you and then realise that I won’t get a response.
‘The funeral and the party which I will not call a wake afterwards, and which I very much feel you attended in some vaporous way blew the f***ing roof off Chiswick House.
‘Everybody danced – from the age of 3 to their mid 80s. Your school friends attended, my school friends attended, Lily’s school friends attended. The love you inspired, quietly and generously was awe-inspiring and still is.
In the caption Kate said she still felt ‘blindsided and devastated’ by her death and heartbreakingly admitted she still goes to call her before realising that no one will answer
She was joined by her daughter Lily, 26, who she shares with her ex Michael Sheen – who also attended to support her (Kate and Michael seen in 2010)
Her daughter Lily attended the funeral with her mother (stock image)
‘I will never get over the lump of cement in my stomach that I have instead of you. Hopefully, I will learn to carry it better than I am currently carrying it which is clumsily and not well.
‘But what you left me was a coterie of extraordinarily brilliant people who, if and when I am ever up to it, I know will provide me a soft place to land.
‘At the moment I am so blindsided and devastated that it is safer for me to be on my own but I know from your funeral that the relationships you nurtured so carefully over the years are there for me too and that is another part of your generosity that will live on.
‘I love you, Mama. You are in my blood. You are in my bones, you are in my heart, broken or not you are there. I love you so much.’
Her death came 18 months after the death of Judy’s second husband and Kate’s stepfather Roy, who died in January 2024.
He was hospitalised in Los Angeles in December 2023 after suffering ‘a massive stroke’ while battling two forms of cancer, which he was diagnosed with in the summer prior.
Tragically this wasn’t the first time Judy was widowed after the shock death of her first husband Richard Beckinsale in 1979, when Kate was just five-years-old.
The actor, famed for his roles in popular shows Rising Damp and Porridge, suddenly passed away on March 19, 1979 at the age of just 31, leaving behind his devastated wife Judy and Kate and her sister Samantha.
Sharing the news of her mother’s death back in July, Kate posted a compilation of snaps as she penned: ‘I don’t want to post this. I am only posting this because I have had to register my mother’s death certificate and it will soon become public record.
‘She died the night of July 15th in my arms after immeasurable suffering. I have not picked all the best photos, nor the best videos, because I cannot bear to go through my camera roll yet.
‘I deeply apologise to any of her friends who are finding out this way or through the press, but I cannot go through her phone.
‘I am paralysed. Jude was the compass of my life, the love of my life, my dearest friend. The vastness and huge heart of this tiny woman has touched so many people who love her dearly.
‘She has been brave in so many ways, forgiving sometimes too much, believing in the ultimate good in people and the world is so dim without her that it is nearly impossible to bear.’
She finished: ‘Mama, I love you so much. This has been my greatest fear since finding my father dead at five and I am here. Oh my Mama.. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I am so sorry.’
Judy’s death came 18 months after the death of her second husband, and Kate’s stepfather Roy (pictured), who died in January 2024
Kate didn’t confirm the cause of death at the time however her mum was known to have been battling stage four cancer for the last two years
Kate’s post announcing her mother’s death is pictured
Fans and friends rushed to send their condolences in the comments as they penned: ‘I’m so sorry. What a beautiful lady’;
‘Sending you and Lily so much love’; ‘I’m so incredibly sorry for your loss! Y’all had such an incredible bond that not a lot of mothers and daughters do’;
‘Sending love. Not enough. Because NOTHING can replace your mother.’; ‘Oh no. May angels lead her in’.
Jess Wright added: ‘Omg I am so deeply sorry’.
Back in March Kate shared a tearful Mother’s Day tribute to Judy amid her cancer battle.
She reassured her mother that ‘any journey you are on, I’m on it with you,’ in an Instagram post dedicated to her, revealing just how much she idolises her mum.
Describing Judy as her ‘partner in crime,’ Kate posted a carousel of photos from throughout her mum’s cancer treatment, as well as memories that hold a special place in her heart.
Kate – who revealed that her mum was sick last year – admitted they had been ‘through some s**t together’ and that her mum has her heart.
The Fool’s Paradise star further offered her advice to others who are grieving.
She said: ‘My heart is with you,’ on a day that is ‘joyful for so many and painful for so many.’
Kate also asked for good wishes to be sent to her ‘extraordinary’ mother who she called a ‘warrior’ in her post.
Kate penned in the caption of the post about her mother: ‘I wasn’t going to come back to Instagram but anyone who has a spare prayer or magic or miracle or sunbeam please send it to my mama, my most extraordinary, warrior, generous, humble, loving, unique, irreplaceable Mama.
‘Thank you – Lord, keep her safe this night, secure from all her fears, may angels guard her while she sleeps till morning light appears, amen.’
Kate’s father Richard died when she was just five-years-old after he suffered a shock heart attack in his sleep brought on by undiagnosed coronary artery disease.
At the time was in fact Judy who was the family’s focus then, as she was in hospital recovering from an operation to unblock her fallopian tubes, so she could have more children.
When she emerged, she learned her operation had been a success, but that her husband had died.
The day before his death, Richard had taken Kate – who was just five-years-old at the time – to visit her mother in hospital and had no physical complaints, simply saying he felt tired.
That evening, Richard attended a party for The Two Ronnies before returning to the family home in Sunningdale, Berks.
The last anyone heard from the rising comedy star was in a phone call he made to friends before going to bed, in which he noted he had pains in his arms and chest but made light of it. Tragically, Richard never woke up.
Kate, who had been looked after by a family friend who came to babysit her at home, has said she still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder ‘from discovering my very young father’s almost-dead body as a very young child alone in the night.’
It was a trauma which was ‘reactivated’ by losing Roy all these years later as she revealed a year after his passing that she’ll forever be ‘haunted’ after seeing Roy die.
Roy, the director of TV greats including Inspector Morse, Cracker and A Touch Of Frost, came into Kate’s life three years after her father died.
Alongside a beaming snap of Roy, Kate penned: ‘Finding my father’s dead body alone in the middle of the night at the age of five shaped my entire life. Seeing my beloved stepfather die a year ago today will haunt me forever.
She said in her post about the funeral: ‘I love you, Mama. You are in my blood. You are in my bones, you are in my heart, broken or not you are there. I love you so much’
‘It does seem terribly careless to have managed to be present for both deaths and unable to prevent either, the second time trying with every single thing I had. It was not enough.
‘In the process of losing my beloved Roy I lost family, friendships, at some points my own health, and all the money I had due to how disgusting the American healthcare system is for those who are not insured. I would do it again. No question.
‘I cannot help feeling that I dreadfully failed -but I am trying to console myself today with all the preparation that he did in the last years of his life, how deeply he studied and practised as a Jungian and how thin the veil is between the energy of this life and whatever is next, that some part of him was at peace with it.
‘It does feel like a lie I am telling myself to try and feel better, however. Perhaps I am just unfortunately not enlightened enough to sell that to myself over my sense of loss, guilt and failure.’
