12 April 2012
Actress Pat Kirkwood, the last survivor from the golden age of the great pre-war British musical stars, has died, aged 86.
During a career spanning more than 60 years she starred in leading roles in musicals written by Noël Coward, Cole Porter and Leonard Bernstein.
But it was sher friendship with the Duke of Edinburgh which kept her name in the public consciousness long after she had retired from showbusiness.
Kirkwood died on Christmas Day at Kitwood House nursing home in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, said the author and royal biographer Michael Thornton, a close family friend.
