BBC stars past and present attend Bill Turnbull's funeral in Suffolk

On August 31, it was confirmed in a statement by his family that he had passed away peacefully at his Suffolk home following a "challenging and committed fight against prostate cancer", with which he was diagnosed in November 2017.

Family and close friends, including his BBC Breakfast co-hosts, attended a private ceremony at Holy Trinity Church in Blythburgh on Friday afternoon, September 16.

Bill Turnbull had a strong passion for Suffolk and took it to his heart, being drawn to the county's coast by his love of beekeeping.

He voiced concerns about Sizewell C, hosted the EADT Business Awards and was once the official starter for the Heritage Coast Marathon run by the local Rotary Club.

Bill Turnbull speaking at the East Anglian Daily Times Business Awards 2017. Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWN (Image: Archant)

Sian Williams, who anchored BBC Breakfast with Turnbull for more than a decade, told the PA news agency: “I think it is a day of sadness and reflection, and I hope sometime today there will also be time to celebrate his life because he was a great friend and a great man.

“And he has so many different connections to so many different people who cherish him that I hope we can have that time together where we can share those memories.

“I wish he were able to understand how much he was valued, and I think it is incredible the number of people here who just wanted to come and celebrate and pay their respects to him.

“Bill made a lot of friends and he was a very loyal friend and he was great to work with as a professional, but when you’re sitting alongside someone like that there is a lot of trust that goes with that.

“I think the reason that so many people have turned out today to pay their respects – to think about him and share memories of him and to celebrate him – is because he was a good man.

“He was a great bloke, he was great to work with, he was a great friend and you see that here with the number of people who wanted to express that.”

Williams said she will remember Turnbull “with a smile”.

Other famous names to attend the service in Blythburgh include Martha Kearney, Mike Bushell, Louise Minchin, Charlotte Hawkins and Nick Robinson.

BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty, who shared the red sofa with Turnbull for several years, told the PA news agency: “Bill was the grammar hammer; he was so on top of his grammar plurals, singulars… He was all over it.

“He was passionate about the job and passionate about the journalism and passionate about the audience.

“The audience was all that mattered and all that does matter and Bill never forgot that – he was a joy to sit beside.

“To sit next to Bill was always an experience, it was always fun, it was always focused but it was also about the audience.

“It was telling the story, being part of the story, which is always a privilege, and hearing people’s experiences and helping to relay those to our audience.

“It was the audience – that’s what Bill was about.”

Munchetty said she will remember Turnbull as a “funny, charming, cheeky guy”.

Turnbull’s two sons and son-in-law were among the six pallbearers carrying his oak coffin, adorned with a red rose and purple bouquet, into the church.