Family, friends mourn Paula Yates

Paula Yates with daughter Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- The funeral has been held of British television personality Paula Yates, six days after she was found dead at her London home.

Irish pop star Bono of U2 was among friends and family paying their last respects at Saturday's ceremony in a tiny 12th century village church close to the home she once shared with former husband Sir Bob Geldof.

Security was tight as the funeral cortege carrying Yates's cream-coloured coffin approached and a few members of the public watched from outside the church walls.

Geldof accompanied Yates' four daughters to lay to rest the Bohemian blonde who, by the end of her life, was famous simply for being famous.

The 41-year-old "rock chick" was found dead on September 17 at her home in London's trendy Notting Hill district.

The cause of death is still unknown but British media reports say an empty vodka bottle and a partly empty bottle of painkillers lay by her naked body.

The Church of Mary Magdalene in Davington, in the county of Kent, was near the home Yates shared with Geldof while they were married. They wed in Las Vegas in 1986 and had three daughters -- Fifi Trixibelle, 17, Peaches 11, and Pixie 10.

Yates and Geldof were divorced in 1996 and shortly afterwards she gave birth to her fourth child, Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily.

The father was Australian rock star Michael Hutchence, leader of the INXS band who Yates described as the love of her life. He was found hanged in a Sydney hotel room in 1997.

Tiger Lily -- who found her mother's body -- is being cared for by Geldof, who now lives in London with French actress Jeanne Marine.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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