Anna Chancellor has opened up on how she felt connected to her late daughter by following her funeral wishes, as she revealed the details of the elaborate wake she held.

The London-based actress, 59, known for her roles in Four Weddings and a Funeral and What a Girl Wants, explained that Poppy had a ‘death plan,’ even before she was diagnosed with leukaemia.

Poppy Chancellor, 36, an illustrator and paper-cut artist who had been suffering from acute myeloid leukaemia, pᴀssed away alongside her immediate family in September 2023.

Now, Anna has opened up about her daughter’s unique funeral in a new interview with The Independent.

She told the publication how the send-off featured a theme inspired by Baz Luhrman’s Romeo and Juliet and a ceremony with drums and sage performed by a First Nation Canadian Indian friend, as well as gold tinsel curtains and pyrotechnics.

Anna explained: ‘Poppy had written a very coherent death plan, even before she was diagnosed.’

Anna Chancellor has opened up on how she felt connected to her late daughter by following her funeral wishes, as she revealed the details of the elaborate wake she held (seen together in May 2012)

The London-based actress, 59, explained that Poppy had a ‘death plan,’ even before she was diagnosed with leukaemia (seen together in 2001)

She added: ‘And you know what is actually very nice? Once they’ve died, you can follow their wishes, so you still feel connected.

‘The dog sat on her body for a bit, the Jack Russell. Everyone was like, ‘Take her off!’ I’m like, she’s fine. Death is very funny and very beautiful.’

It comes after Anna revealed that when she finds herself crying in public due to the tragic death of Poppy, pᴀssersby fail to notice. 

Processing the grief remains a work in progress for the actress, who has found herself mourning the loss of her only child in virtually all places she goes.

‘In a way, when you’ve lost your child you are given a bit of a gold card’, she told The Times, adding, ‘People expect it’.

She has found a hint of solace from her current castmates in Playhouse Creatures, which will be the first play she’s done in nearly a decade, with crew members inviting conversation on the topic of grief and encouraging her that tears are ‘welcome’.

However, Anna has found an entirely different response from the public, and in times when she’s found herself overcome with grief when out, others tend to overlook her.

She said: ‘There’s nowhere I’ve been where I haven’t broken down. I’ve cried on trains, really cried, and no one’s noticed. No one was looking because I am middle-aged, and I am invisible.’

Luckily for Anna, she doesn’t care much about what people think of her, and she has carried that blasé atтιтude throughout her lifetime. She left school with two O-levels and uprooted to London aged 16 before giving birth to Poppy during drama school.

Anna Chancellor pictured as Lady Anstruther in Downton Abbey

Poppy Chancellor, 36, an illustrator and paper-cut artist who had been suffering from acute myeloid leukaemia, pᴀssed away alongside her immediate family in September 2023 

Read More Downton Abbey’s Anna Chancellor says she feels ‘invisible’ after her daughter’s death 

Naturally, Poppy inherited a similar atтιтude, having enjoyed a relaxed upbringing in London where she became so climatized to her mother’s raucous parties that she required noise to be able sleep at night.

Her parents split up when she was four years old and she lived with her mother in a basement flat in Shepherd’s Bush, West London. They would be seen out together on the party scene in trendy Ladbroke Grove nearby.

Anna remarried Algerian-born former minicab driver Redha Debbah, who is seven years her junior, in a small Notting Hill ceremony in 2010.

Poppy spoke fondly about her ‘crazy childhood’ with her ‘loving’ mother, whom she described as her ‘best friend’.

‘I was an only child, but I never felt lonely because I was always at the party, or down the bookies with my dad, or in the pub with both of them,’ she once said. ‘There were parties every night and great pubs where everyone would go, so that’s what they did.’

Poppy was no stranger to grief though, and her father, the poet father Jock Scot, died aged 63 from cancer, which led her to set up a support group called Griefcase.

Following his diagnosis in 2014, her father refused chemotherapy after being given 100 days to live. However, he went on to live for another two years.

The experience gave Poppy a pragmatic approach when dealing with her diagnosis in May 2023, which came about after she gained multiple infections following her wisdom teeth removals.

In preparation for her chemotherapy, she bravely shaved off her trademark ‘bob’ hairstyle. ‘Chemo ready,’ she said in 2023. ‘Said goodbye to the bob today – end of an era.’

Anna explaind: ‘Poppy had written a very coherent death plan, even before she was diagnosed 

She said: ‘The dog sat on her body for a bit, the Jack Russell. Everyone was like, ‘Take her off!’ I’m like, she’s fine. Death is very funny and very beautiful’

‘Cancer has always been close to home for me,’ Poppy said in May that same year. ‘I’ve always been interested in cancer awareness and advocating for grief awareness and now it’s all starting to feel very real very quickly.’

She added: ‘Grieving for my life before diagnosis – and coming to terms with all the bruises and needles is a challenge.’

Talking to The Times, Anna said of her daughter: ‘She was rigorous with her dying, as with her grief. She had life insurance. She had every relationship sorted, every amends made, no bad vibes. She was so brave, she was extraordinary.’

In September 2023, Anna, together with other relatives, posted a message on her daughter’s social media in which they paid tribute to ‘an unbelievable life force’.

They also thanked Royal Marsden Hospital staff in London who treated Poppy and sent a message of support to others going through similar ordeals.

The post read: ‘To all you wonderful and most-loved friends of Poppy. We send you this message with our deepest love.

‘On September 29 Poppy died, held тιԍнт by her immediate family just as she had wished.

‘Despite every effort, her body could not continue any longer. So, we, her family and friends who all adore her join the other families who have lost loved ones far too young.

Anna added: ‘Poppy and I were very strong believers in just making up things – making up a ceremony, doing what you feel is right, making it fun’

‘Poppy was and is an unbelievable life force of creativity, compᴀssion, wit, beauty, and sheer uniqueness. She transformed our lives, and we are beyond grateful.’

The 36-year-old had studied at the esteemed Royal Drawing School and worked for a string of high-profile brands including Cath Kidston and Adidas.

King Charles is rumoured to own one of her works, which she gave to him as a thank-you after she attended an artists’ residence at Dumfries House – the Ayrshire-based stately home which he bought for £45 million in 2007.

She also wrote a book тιтled ‘Cut It Out!’, which teaches readers how to create papercut art from a blank sheet.

WHAT IS LEUKAEMIA?

Leukaemia is a cancer that starts in blood-forming tissue, usually the bone marrow.

It leads to the over-production of abnormal white blood cells, which fight off infections.

But a higher number of white blood cells means there is ‘less room’ for other cells, including red blood cells – which transport oxygen around the body – and platelets – which cause blood to clot when the skin is cut.

There are many different types of leukaemia, which are defined according to the immune cells they affect and how the disease progresses.

For all types combined, 9,900 people in the UK were diagnosed with leukaemia in 2015, Cancer Research UK statistics reveal.

And in the US, around 60,300 people were told they had the disease last year, according to the National Cancer Insтιтute.

Most cases have no obvious cause, with the cancer not being contagious or inherited.

Leukaemia generally becomes more common with age – the exception being acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which peaks in children.

Other risk factors include being male, exposed to certain chemicals or radiation, and some bone-marrow disorders.

Symptoms are generally vague and get worse over time.

These can include:

Acute leukaemia – which progresses rapidly and aggressively – is often curable via chemo, radiotherapy or a stem cell transplant.

Chronic forms of the disease – which typically progress slowly – tend to incurable, however, these patients can often live with the disease.

Source: Leukaemia Care