Charles Bronson’s ex Paula Williamson to be buried on 39th birthday today in horse-and-carriage funeral
CHARLES Bronson’s ex Paula Williamson will today be buried on her 39th birthday in a horse-and-carriage funeral.
The Coronation Street actress will be laid to rest with pink roses at the service after she was found dead at her Stoke home in July.
The 38-year-old was found after announcing she had applied to have her marriage to Britain’s most violent lag annulled.
Bronson – who has been behind bars for the past 44 years – had previously revealed hopes he would be able to attend the funeral.
But he later said the service at the St Saviour’s Smallthorne parish should be a private affair.
Family and friends will today gather at the church to farewell Paula, expected to wear black with a splash of pink to remember the actress.
The young woman had tragically given her heartbroken mum Hazel instructions for her funeral, saying she would inevitably die young.
In her will, she said she wanted an open casket at her funeral and for her coffin to be taken to the crematorium in a horse-drawn carriage.
In a typically flamboyant move she stipulated that the horses must be black with pink plumes attached to their reins.
Her spokesman said: “A post-mortem has been conducted on her body and it has now been released to her family for her funeral.
“The funeral itself will be as flamboyant as her life was. She had many ups and downs but we’ll be there to celebrate her life.”
Britain's most notorious lag - how Bronson gained his grisly nickname
Armed robber Bronson has spent more than 44 years behind bars after repeatedly having his sentence increased for attacking prison staff and taking them hostage.
Writing in his 2000 book Bronson, he said: “I’m a nice guy, but sometimes I lose all my senses and become nasty. That doesn’t make me evil, just confused”.
He was first sentenced to seven years in jail over an armed robbery in 1974.
That was extended by nine months after he attacked a fellow prisoner with a glass jug.
He was then given an extra year in jail for holding a three-day rooftop protest that cost £100,000 in damages.
After a brief stint of freedom, he was found guilty of intent to robbery and sentenced to eight years in 1992.
His sentence was extended by eight years after he held a prison staff member hostage.
He again became involved in a hostage situation, which again resulted in a sentence extension.
He was finally given a life sentence after kidnapping a prison teacher in 1999, with the violent lag investigated for a number of other disturbances since, including allegedly throwing a bottle of human waste at a Muslim prisoner.
An inquest heard she had been found on July 30 by her new partner, sick and unconscious with “two small bags of white powder stuck to her.”
Partner Peter Jones previously told The Sun Online how he found Paula, saying he tried to kiss her awake.
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Ms Williamson, who said last month she and Mr Bronson had applied to have their marriage annulled, had played minor roles in Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
She met the renowned criminal in prison in late 2016, and they were married in November 2017.
After they revealed their split, Bronson, 66, announced he wanted to wed again.