Princess Diana-style funerals where friends and family read eulogies and poems should be banned and are “little better than an entertainment show”, a reverend has argued.

Reverend Peter Ratcliff, said he was concerned about the growing trend in funeral services where families are allowed to read poems and tributes.

Mr Ratcliff is the minister of the South Wimbledon-based chapter of the Anglican Continuing Movement, a splinter group which broke away from the Church of England in 1994 in reaction to the ordination of Wimbledon.

Mr Ratcliff said: “The minister should take the whole service himself without allowing family and friends to present poems and eulogies.

“It is his job and he should not stand down from his duty or hand it over to those who are not qualified.

“It is quite inappropriate to produce a Princess Diana-style modern funeral where the minister acts as a master of ceremonies, simply introducing one act after another.

“Though often not intended, this becomes little better than an entertainment show and an outpouring of emotionalism devoid of biblical truth.”

Mr Ratcliff’s outspoken comments were inspired by concerns that the Church of England was bowing to a growing demand for family members to read poems and speeches during services, as inspired by Princess Diana’s public funeral in September 1997.

It was watched on television by an estimated 2.5bn people and saw 1m more line the streets of central London to witness a four-mile procession from her family home in Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey.

Diana’s two sisters read poems at the service, and her brother, Earl Spencer, delivered perhaps the most well-known eulogy in modern history by launching a stinging attack on the media, which, he claimed, caused her death.

Tony Walter, professor of death studies at Bath University, said the most popular type of funeral in Britain today was a “pick ’n’ mix” affair in which the service included a combination of secular and religious readings.

Professor Walter, who has written extensively on funerals, including a book called The Mourning for Diana, commented on funeral advice website My Last Song: “Families are no longer willing to be told what is, and what isn’t, appropriate when remembering a loved one.

“If and when we plan our own funerals, we want to be remembered as the unique individuals we are, not dispatched by a cut and paste anonymous, dreary ritual that all too often is the outcome of the traditional funeral.”

Paul Hensby, who founded My Last Song three years ago, said: “Reverend Ratcliff is being courageous in flying in the face of the popular demand to have secular content at church funerals.

“Many vicars approve of this on the basis that it’s what the family want, that it brings more people to their churches and indeed the payment to the minister entitles the family to have the funeral they wish, within reasonable boundaries.

“Many Christians will agree with him, thinking the minister at the funeral should communicate the messages within the bible of the meaning of death and resurrection rather than acting as master of ceremonies at an emotionally charged show.”

Click here to read Reverend Ratcliff's article in full.

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