Cherie Blair says Barbara Taylor Bradford was ‘inspiration to me and millions'

The Herald Scotland

12-06-2025

She paid tribute before the service at St Bride's Church in Fleet Street, London, on Thursday, which was attended by about 100 people, dressed in an array of colours, including actors, authors and fans of the novelist.
Author Barbara Taylor Bradford poses for pictures after she received her honour from Queen Elizabeth II (Steve Parsons/PA)
Taylor Bradford died at the age of 91 on November 24 last year following a short illness, 'and was surrounded by loved ones to the very end', a spokeswoman said at the time.
Mrs Blair, who is married to former British prime minister Tony Blair, said of the author: 'We're two northern girls of similar backgrounds, and we were friends ever since.
'Barbara was the woman of substance, she was elegant, she was warm, she was intelligent, she was feisty, she was an amazing person and a really good friend.
'Every time she wrote a new book, she would send one to me, but she also sent one to my mum too.
'She was a great novelist because she absorbed knowledge from all around her, she gave back so much, she never forgot her northern roots.
Jenny Seagrove (left) and Cherie Blair attended a memorial service for Barbara Taylor Bradford (Jeff Moore/PA)
'She was my friend, and she's an inspiration to me, and to millions.'
The ceremony began with the theme to the TV adaption of A Woman Of Substance, before a choir sang In Paradisum from Gabriel Faure's Requiem.
The choir's performance was followed by a welcome and opening prayer from reverend canon Dr Alison Joyce, who spoke about Taylor Bradford's roots as a journalist at the Yorkshire Evening Post.
Actor Liam Neeson, 73, who starred in the Channel 4 adaption of Taylor Bradford's book, also paid tribute to the novelist during the service, in a message read out by actress Jenny Seagrove.
Neeson said in his message: 'In 1984, I had the great honour of playing Blackie O'Neill in the television adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's A Woman Of Substance, and again in its sequel, Hold The Dream.
'It was a landmark moment — the first television drama series to reach more than 13.8 million viewers on Britain's Channel 4 — and something we were all incredibly proud of.
'But more than the numbers, it was Barbara's vision, her storytelling, and her fierce dedication to her characters that made the work so special.
'She was a force — elegant, brilliant and unstoppable — and I feel deeply privileged to have been part of bringing her words to life.'
Liam Neeson starred in an adaptation of A Woman With Substance (Ian West/PA)
Seagrove, 67, who played Emma Harte in the adaption, told PA: 'Barbara championed women before a lot of other people. It's now fashionable to give women a voice, but Barbara fought for strong women.
'She wrote strong women. She was a strong woman.'
The actress continued: 'Barbara was a force of nature, she didn't suffer fools, she had great attention to detail, she always had a chuckle, and always saw the funny side of things.
'She was deeply, deeply in love and loved by her husband, it was one of the most extraordinary relationships.
'She loved her dogs, I used to ring up because I love dogs, and we talked about whatever Bichon Frise she'd got at the time.
'She used to say, 'I put my makeup on as a mask, and then I go to battle', she went out there and took on the world, and boy, did she succeed.
'She was a friend, she meant a lot to me, her work changed my life. But more than anything, I'm here because I loved her, and I think probably everybody here was here because they loved her, because she was a remarkably loyal woman.
'If she loved you, she stood by you. That was it.'
Also in attendance was TV presenter Fern Britton, 67, who told PA the 'moving, yet rich and warm' ceremony had brought her to tears.
She said: 'The books will obviously stand as her legacy.
'But for me, it is seeing her walk into a room with a beautiful suit on, carrying an Hermes bag with an Hermes scarf tied around it and fabulous jewellery and her big smile – that for me, is her legacy.'
Eve Pollard attending a memorial service for Barbara Taylor Bradford (Jeff Moore/PA)
Taylor Bradford's best known book A Woman Of Substance is a rags-to-riches tale set in the 1900s that follows the life of Yorkshire servant Emma who later heads up a business empire.
Other TV adaptations of her books included ITV's Act Of Will starring Elizabeth Hurley and Victoria Tennant, and To Be The Best, a sequel to A Woman Of Substance with Lindsay Wagner and Sir Anthony Hopkins.
The former US editor in chief of Elle magazine, Eve Pollard, who is the mother of Claudia Winkleman, told PA she felt her long-time friend had been in the church with her.
The 81-year-old said: 'I found the service very moving and very Barbara, that was what was wonderful.
'I think Jenny Seagrove said she's in the room and you more or less felt she was and I said to somebody, 'can't we all go to our memorial services and then die quietly later?' because it was perfect.
'It had everything, it had New York in it and the Yorkshire side of it.'
The author was often labelled 'the grand dame of blockbusters', with her books selling more than 91 million copies and having been published in more than 40 languages and in 90 countries.
In April it was announced that Vera actress Brenda Blethyn will lead a new Channel 4 adaptation of A Woman Of Substance, playing protagonist Emma.