Anna Richardson reveals her retired priest father has died aged 85 after a battle with dementia as she recalls his 'extraordinary life' meeting the Pope and Queen Elizabeth

has revealed her father, a retired priest, has passed away at 85.

Taking to Instagram on Monday, the frontwoman, 55, shared a sweet series of pictures showing her dad Canon Jim Richardson and announced he died on Thursday after a battle with vascular dementia.

Her post explained that Jim had spent the final fortnight of his life in hospital with heart failure, , and a collapsed lung, while writing: 'His body may have been failing him, but his will to live was astonishing.'

Of his 'extraordinary life', she recalled: 'He travelled the world, worked closely with every faith, met the Pope, received his OBE from Queen Elizabeth, all while ministering to his congregation in the Church of England.' 

Anna's heartbreaking post saw the beloved TV presenter reveal her 'fun-loving, private, difficult, thoughtful, and oh-so complex' father 'didn't want to go just yet' but 'believed he was going to the company of Angels'.

Anna, who featured with her dad in 2024 documentary Love, Loss & Demention, opened her post detailing the nature of death, writing: 'Death is strange. We spend our lives trying not to talk about it, until one day, it's the only thing in the room...

'We burst into this world fighting for breath, and so often we leave it in exactly the same way. It's messy, physical, and at times, totally undignified. Just like birth.'

Speaking of Jim's death, she continued: 'My Dad spent his final two weeks in hospital with heart failure, pneumonia, and a collapsed lung. His body may have been failing him, but his will to live was astonishing...

'I fed him grapes and tinned peaches, and convinced myself that if I could just get him out of bed then we might steal another few weeks together...

'When it became clear his heart was too weak, my brother and I moved into his room and set up camp either side of him - like two gargoyles guarding the entrance of a church. One generation accompanying another into the next world...

'He took his last breath on June 25th - my mother's Birthday. How strange that he held on. What an extraordinary life he's had'.

She went on: 'A working class lad from south east London, who knew he had a calling. He travelled the world, worked closely with every faith, met the Pope, received his OBE from Queen Elizabeth, all while ministering to his congregation in the Church of England...

'His last great adventure was making the Love, Loss & Dementia documentary with me for Channel 4. He was fun-loving, private, difficult, thoughtful, and oh-so complex - but he was my Dad. And I loved him...

'Even though he wasn't afraid of death, he didn't want to go just yet. He believed he was going to the company of Angels - I hope so very much that he's right. God bless, Dad.'

In 2024's heartbreaking doc Anna Richardson: Love, Loss & Dementia, Anna opened up about her father's vascular dementia diagnosis. 

Jim spent much of his life working in Anna's birth place of Great Brighton, Northamptonshire and she attributed her father's dementia to his lifetime of hard work: 'When dad was working – and he devoted his life to the church...

'He was very stressed. He was extremely busy. He was eating on the run. He never exercised. He enjoyed a drink in the parish, he had diabetes, and he was carrying a bit too much weight.

'And an awful lot of people in this country currently struggle with all these things, which all contributed to dad's vascular dementia.'