A GRAND gypsy funeral saw a woman clothed in a white wedding dress as she was carried in a see-through coffin through packed streets of London.
The extraordinary ceremony saw Pauline Devlin have a send off “fit for a Queen” as she was processed by a fleet of Rolls Royce cars and six white horses to a cemetery.
A New Orleans-style jazz band played music as the traveller, who died aged 50, was taken to her grave at Kensal Green Cemetery.
A relative said she had suffered from a condition which left her mute and was never able to marry.
He added: “Pauline never had a wedding day and so we had this funeral to make up for it.
“There has never been a funeral like this in the traveller community.”
Her body was displayed to the public in a one-of-a-kind see-through casket, as a Mississippi-style brass band played tunes including When The Saints Go Marching In.
Incredible footage shows the white carriage being led along a road by undertakers in top hats, with Pauline on show, as she made her final journey on Saturday.
Friends and family lined the streets to watch the procession, which was all in white as a tribute to Pauline, who never married.
She was seen in a Victorian dress, with her hair styled and a face full of make-up in a tribute from her family.
One tearful relative said: “Pauline was loved by everyone. It was a send-off fit for a queen. It was Devlin all the way.
“We normally have black in the gypsy community, but because Pauline was never married, never had a child, and never managed to get down the aisle, this was her send-off.
“As much as it was to say goodbye, it was also to give her a big day that she never got.
“She was buried next to her mother Angela Coyle.
“That made the Sun newspaper in 2009, due to being one of the biggest funerals ever.
“She was named the Queen of Hertfordshire.
“We used a very unusual coffin. It was see-through. The only other time I think it’s ever been done in the UK was for a Pope, I believe, and royalty.”
The coffin was specially made, and was placed into another box before it was lowered into the ground due its fragility.
Pauline passed away from pneumonia before she was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, with her grave adorned with a sea of hundreds of white roses.
In a moving tribute, the family of Pauline told The Sun: “Pauline Devlin was a special gift to our lives that we’ve grown up with and loved unconditionally.
“Pauline was born non-verbal, so our parents made sure she had all the attention and there were at least two of us at each of her sides on all days.
“But spending time with Pauline was a gift, we would take long walks and enjoy picnics in the sun.
“She loved music and she would move from side to side in her younger years. She would clap her hands and sit smiling.
“Pauline was beautiful, sometimes people would make conversation with her and think she was rude because they felt ignored, no one could tell she was non-verbal, with her natural beauty.
“Our father and mother and sisters and brothers loved Pauline very much and were very protective of her.
“We had our places growing up and all had to fit around Pauline’s needs, there were 12 of us and it was a pleasure for us to do so, we all adored and loved her.
“She was and still is our very own angel sent to our family by God. Pauline died from pneumonia and we were all at her bedside when she passed. Our father was holding her hand.
“She will never be forgotten and she will be missed by all her family and her relatives and everyone that knew her.
“Rest in perfect peace Pauline Devlin. It’s Devlin all the way.”
