Model buried as she lived in media spotlight

Katy French, the model and socialite who lived and died in the media beam, had her final outing in a sunny, country churchyard in Co Wicklow yesterday, amid a phalanx of cameras and an attendance of about 500.

The attendance included the Taoiseach's aide de camp, a gallery of models (many sporting distinctive red-soled Louboutin footwear), entertainment media and the family dog.

"I believe Katy is close by now, probably enjoying the show," said her father, during an unconventional service in St Patrick's Church in Powerscourt. He, Katy's mother Janet and sister Jill, all dressed in bright colours, attempted to reclaim their "Katykins" from Brand Katy, the public persona she created for herself in the past 12 months.

The 150-year-old church was decorated as for a celebration with vases and urns of lisianthus, white chrysanthemums, carnations and lilies before an altar dominated by a large video screen.

The service began with a 17-minute montage of photographs charting Katy's life with her family, from chubby, messy, laughing child to mischievous, vibrant, laughing woman, accompanied by music and song.

After the music, a composed cream-suited Janet French stepped up to pay tribute to her daughter.

She said the slide show was her attempt "to answer the question someone once asked - 'who is Katy French?' "

She talked about "the heartfelt connection and undying trust" of the mother- daughter bond, of Katy's smile and sparkle, about how "this baby woman" had always travelled "with an openness of heart and a freedom of spirit . . . she could forgive Katy anything and she would always forgive me".

She read extracts from an article written by Katy, after spending some days with street children in Calcutta, an experience which persuaded her that she could try to change things. "God doesn't require us to succeed, only to try."

In the only oblique reference during the service, to the circumstances of Katy's widely publicised life and death, Ms French continued: "I used to call her my little Persephone, my daughter, who spent some of her time in Hades, on the dark side, whilst I, mother Demeter, cried my tears to water the flowers and the trees, to make everything beautiful for her return to the brightness and the light.

"Every mother knows that's what we do. Every mother knows her daughter has strengths and weaknesses, hopes and fears, angels and demons.

"Every mother knows her child will struggle with some emotional and moral conflict here on earth, as he or she has a job to do, a living to make, a life to lead."

As she resumed her seat to applause, the junior choir from Alexandra College, where Katy attended school, sang The Rhythm of Life.

After readings by her friends, John Buckley and Intan Besri , and the hymn Be Not Afraid, Jill paid tribute to her sister, who "to me is not the person that everyone sees in the magazines".

Katy loved shoes and hotels while Jill went for hostels, she was "confident, beautiful, intelligent, funny" and with "one hell of a temper", who "always got top grades although she never really studied, a girl who could have been anything she wanted".

Her father John referred to stories in the papers, "some true, some false, some just simply made up. Like each one of us, Katy has many sides but deep inside shone a light so very, very bright."

She would have enjoyed "the show", he said wryly, looking at a congregation that included Glenda Gilson, Andrea Roche, Gayle Killilea, Rosanna Davison, Chris de Burgh, and former rugby international Shane Byrne.

There too was Katy's former fiancé Marcus Sweeney, whose highly publicised public break-up with her last January, boosted the young model to virtual national recognition.

Her mother carried a white rose as Katy's coffin was carried to the adjoining churchyard and the cameras captured the final images of a young woman who celebrated her 24th birthday 10 days ago.