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Crowds gather for Stephen Hawking’s funeral as stars pay their respects to renowned physicist

Famous faces are celebrating the great professor's life

Five hundred guests are expected to attend the funeral of Stephen Hawking in Cambridge today, with thousands of admirers and locals lining the streets to watch his cortege pass by.

Images shared on Twitter show crowds four-deep on the cobbled streets of the famous university town, with barriers having been erected to contain them.

Crowds around the University Church of St Mary the Great (Credit: Twitter/Haskan Kaya)

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Hollywood star Eddie Redmayne, who played Hawking in the 2014 film The Theory of Everything, will give a reading at the service, and was earlier spotted by Twitter user Abigail Rabbett (@abigailRabbett) making his way into the church.

A solemn Eddie enters the church (Credit: Twitter/Abigail Rabbett)

Other well-known faces seen arriving for the sad event included supermodel Lily Cole, who graduated from Cambridge University in 2011 with a double first class degree in the History of Art.

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Twitter users also report seeing legendary Queen guitarist Brian May, and Irish comic Dara O Briain arriving, along with playwright Alan Bennett and actress Felicity Jones.

Professor Hawking died last month, aged 76.

Prof Hawking passed away in March (Credit: FameFlynet)

The funeral service is being held at the University Church of St Mary the Great in Cambridge, close to the Gonville and Caius College where Professor Hawking was a fellow.

It will be followed by a reception for guests at Trinity College.

Crowds await the cortege (Credit: Twitter/BBC Cambridgeshire)

The renowned Professor’s ashes will be interred at Westminster Abbey, reportedly near the grave of Sir Isaac Newton, in a service of thanksgiving for his life later this year.

Since his death on March 14, thousands of people have attended Gonville and Caius College to sign a book of condolence for him.

Although an atheist, it is thought his family chose a church funeral for him to allow as many of his friends and admirers as possible to be able to attend.

His children, Lucy, Robert and Tim said in a statement at the time of his death: “He once said: ‘It would not be much of a universe if it wasn’t home to the people you love’.

“We will miss him for ever.”

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Nancy Brown
Associate Editor

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