Madonna attends Dublin funeral of architect David Collins

There is fashionably late and then there is extremely late. At yesterday's funeral Mass in Dublin for Glenageary architect David Collins, his close friend Madonna waited until after Holy Communion to enter the Church of St Patrick in Monkstown, escorted by a bodyguard and flanked by female friends.

A clearly excited church warden handed out missalettes to the new arrivals, who were on time to join in the final hymns, but not to hear the tribute given by priest Fr Michael Collins, who described his celebrity brother as generous to a fault, soft-hearted and a brilliant mimic.

Collins, who died in London last week having been diagnosed with skin cancer less than a month ago, was an internationally acclaimed designer of restaurants and hotels such as Claridge's, the Connaught Hotel's bar and Nobu.

'Beautiful' speech
Madonna gave what the family described as an "absolutely beautiful" speech about Collins to the 80 guests invited to lunch at the Ritz-Carlton in Powerscourt, following the burial at Shanganagh Cemetery. "She flew in on her private plane, like Graham Norton flew in on his," said Fr Michael, "and she entertained everyone."

The son of an architect, Jacky Collins, Collins studied architecture at Bolton Street in Dublin before moving to London, where he set up his own company.

Irish mourners included Bishop Eamonn Walsh, fashion designers Brendan Courtney and Louise Kennedy, Gloss publisher Jane McDonnell, and the designer-turned-antique-dealer Michael Mortell. His London friends included fashion PR guru Tom Konig-Oppenheimer and designer Adam Brown.

At the Ritz-Carlton, Madonna remembered meeting Collins in the 1990s in Miami, where he had designed a nightclub for a mutual friend.

Later, when she moved to London to perform Evita in the West End, she said she had known nobody in the city and that Collins had come to her rescue, telling her exactly what to do and where to go. The pair had remained close ever since. “What am I going to do now?” she said, “When I need an apple tart, or anything.”

Graham Norton also spoke at the lunch. The late architect, who grew up in Glenageary and studied at Bolton Street, was best known as a designer of ultra-fashionable restaurants and bars and worked with many leading chefs including Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsay.