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Becky Watts’ funeral celebrates her life
Hundreds of people lined the streets of St George and Whitehall on Friday morning to pay respects to Becky Watts.
In a ceremony at St Ambrose Church, tributes were paid to the teenager who vanished from her home in St George on February 19.
Her father and step-mother said they wanted her funeral to be a celebration of her life.
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Vicar of St Ambrose, Rev David James, said: “Now it is time for her to be laid to rest and we want to do that in a spirit of celebration. She has drawn the community together in a very deeply sacrificial way.
“We are very grateful that she has been returned to us so we can give her the divinity she deserves as a child of God. We need to focus on her. This is Becky’s day and we want to give her the dignity she deserves as a human being.”
Rev James read out a tribute to Becky from her father Darren: “In year 6 she became a mentor for children joining the school… She would watch out for any child in the playground looking lost and scared. That was Becky all over, she couldn’t make friends herself but she didn’t want anyone else to feel like she did.
“When she started secondary school she was bullied about her weight and we almost lost her to anorexia. With our care and hospital education she made two new friends… She was the happiest we had ever seen her.
“Becky loved music and animals. She developed her own style and always looked immaculate.
“Becky has left a huge void in our lives and the nation. We love you so much… you are the angel of Bristol.”
Becky’s father and step-mother Darren and Anjie Galsworthy said: “No parent, relative or friend would expect to lose a loved one at such a tender age. Becky was approaching the threshold of her adult life; she had so much to look forward to and love to share with all that were close and dear to her. We will miss her so much.”
Speaking to ITV, Becky’s mother Tanya Watts said: “You shouldn’t have to bury a child. There are a lot of people on this earth who don’t deserve to be here but Becky wasn’t one of them. She should be here.”
She said Becky was a normal teenage girl full of life: “She had a hectic social life, so she might come up twice a week and then you might not see her for a couple of weeks.
“She had some hard times in the past, she was very insecure, unconfident, but she got her confidence back and she got a bit of fight in her.
“I’m still in the back of my mind not accepting it, I’m not, that I’m not going to see her.”
Around 400 people gathered at the church, while members of the public were invited to watch the service from screens outside.
The order of service included Footprints in the Sand by Leona Lewis; the hymn, Lord of the Dance; and Becky’s grandfather John Galsworthy singing a tribute entitles Somewhere.
Following the service there was a private internment for family and friends at Avon View Cemetery.
Becky went missing from her home in St George on February 19. Hundreds of volunteers and police from three forces were involved in the search for her. Her body was found in a house in Barton Hill 11 days later.
Her step-brother Nathan Matthews is charged with her murder.
