MILLBROOK Actress Natasha Richardson’s heartbroken loved ones paid final, tearful respects to the Tony-winner yesterday at a Hudson Valley church and cemetery near the family’s home.
A star-studded assemblage of grief-stricken mourners cried and hugged by the graveside as Richardson’s casket was lowered to its final resting place. A bouquet of white lilies and white roses topped the fresh grave.
PHOTOS: Tears at Natasha’s Funeral
PHOTOS: Life of Natasha Richardson
Richardson’s closest family and friends remembered the beloved actress minutes earlier at a private ceremony inside St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Lithgow.
Mourners assembled outside St. Peter’s until the casket arrived in a silver hearse with a police escort. Husband Liam Neeson, in a dark suit and sunglasses, and other pallbearers carried the casket inside.
Church bells rang out and mourners filed in, to the accompaniment of a lone guitarist.
Before entering the church, several family members including Neeson, Natasha’s mom, Vanessa Redgrave, aunt Lynn Redgrave, sister Joely Richardson and sons Michael, 13, and Daniel, 12, paused to waive at shutterbugs.
Socialite Blaine Trump and actors Ralph Fiennes, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman, Alan Rickman, Timothy Dalton and Laura Linney were also among the 50 or so mourners.
After church services, the coffin was again taken by hearse to St. Peter’s Cemetery, near the plot of grandmother Rachel Redgrave.
After Richardson’s friends and family left the Dutchess County cemetery, local well-wishers dropped by to remember the popular actress.
Richardson, 45, was taken off life support on Wednesday, after she suffered a head injury while skiing near Montreal on March 16.
Neeson and Richardson primarily lived and raised their sons at their Millbrook farm.
The famous acting couple also maintained apartments in Manhattan, where they stayed during numerous Broadway engagements. Richardson won the 1998 Tony Award for her role as Sally Bowles in “Cabaret.”
With Post Wire Services