Boyzone star Stephen Gately’s bandmates are preparing today to fly to Majorca to take his body back to Ireland.
The singer’s funeral will be held in Dublin on Saturday afternoon and the rest of the band - Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham and Shane Lynch - will accompany his body home tomorrow from the Spanish island where he died.
The singer was found dead on the sofa in his apartment in Port Andratx on the island last Saturday after a night out with partner Andrew Cowles.
His body was released by Spanish authorities on Tuesday after a postmortem examination found that the 33-year-old died from natural causes. The tests showed he had suffered a pulmonary oedema, an accumulation of fluid on the lungs. Further tests are being carried out on the fluid to confirm the result.
The Gately family will hold a private family Mass tomorrow night, followed by a funeral service at St Lawrence O’Toole Church at midday on Saturday.
A further memorial service is expected to be held in London, where Gately and his partner shared their home.
Gately had been in his apartment with Mr Cowles until after midnight on Friday, when he travelled to Palma, about an hour’s drive away. It is understood that Gately spent several hours socialising and was back in the apartment before 6am Spanish time.
His body was discovered on Saturday by Bulgarian Georgi Dochev (25) who alerted Mr Cowles.
Gately’s bandmates flew in on Sunday and comforted Mr Cowles during their one-night stay on the island.
Spanish police have previously said there were no signs of suspicious circumstances, but an investigation into the singer’s death will continue as a formality.
His grieving family, who maintained that no drugs were involved in his death and they did not suspect suicide, are said to be happy there was no foul play.
But speculation has continued over what might have caused his death.
Police in Palma said they could not confirm or deny reports that traces of cannabis were found in Gately’s urine.
PA