BRITAIN’S ROYAL family was represented yesterday at the funeral in Co Tipperary of Ned Ryan who died in London last week.
Sophie, Countess of Wessex, the wife of Queen Elizabeth’s youngest son Prince Edward, was among the mourners in Upperchurch near Thurles for the requiem Mass at the Sacred Heart Church. Armed gardaí maintained a discreet presence.
A native of Upperchurch, Mr Ryan, who died aged 78 last Tuesday, emigrated to England 60 years ago and became a well-known antiques dealer, property developer and socialite.
He had been ill with cancer and died at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.
He lived in Ovington Street in the Knightsbridge area of London and moved in royal circles. He was a friend of the queen’s late sister, Princess Margaret, and was often spotted in the royal box at social occasions such as Royal Ascot and Wimbledon. Other mourners yesterday included Mr Ryan’s two brothers and a sister, and Galen Weston, the Canadian billionaire owner of the Brown Thomas department stores.
Fr Lottie Brennan, a cousin of the deceased, delivered a homily and said of Mr Ryan: “At 78 years of age, I would have wished him a longer life, but couldn’t have wished him a better life.”
Mr Ryan first met Princess Margaret, countess of Snowdon, at a dinner party in London.
Although not romantically linked, the pair often attended the theatre and ballet together and ate at fashionable restaurants.
Mr Ryan once took the princess to a Rolling Stones concert and reputedly cooked Irish stew for her at his house.
In an interview reported in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Ryan recalled: "When we met at that dinner party, I had begun running a stall selling silver in the Portobello market and she wanted to know where I got my stock from.
“I told her I went to Bermondsey early on Fridays and she asked if she could come with me.
“So, next Friday, I took her there very early in the morning and she looked for pieces of porcelain and I looked for silver.
“She loved it and we became great friends.”
Princess Margaret died in 2002.
