- Paid tribute to Robin's 'magnificent mind and beautiful heart'
- Hinted at recent tensions between them, and encouraged congregation to 'get rid of conflict in your lives'
- Said 'This is a very strange experience, having already lost two brothers'
- Mother of Gibb's love child reportedly shunned away from attending
By Andrea Magrath
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Barry Gibb placed a red rose on brother Robin's coffin as he bid farewell to his last surviving sibling.
The 65-year-old singer, the only remaining member of the Bee Gees, and gripped his wife Linda's hand as he watched his brother's burial today.
Robin, who died on May 20 after a long-running battle with cancer aged 62, was buried this afternoon at St Mary's Church in his hometown of Thame, Oxfordshire.
Farewell: The last surviving Gibb brother Barry throws a rose on the casket of his brother Robin at the singer's burial at St Mary's church in Thames, Oxfordshire today
In remembrance: The Order of Service featured a picture the chart-topping group
'We will keep him in our hearts and minds forever': Barry and the Bee Gees star's wife Dwina watched Robin's burial following the funeral service this afternoon
'Magnificent mind and beautiful heart': Barry gripped wife Linda's hand while Dwina was surrounded by Robin's children from his first marriage, and their son RJ (far right)
In an emotional tribute, Barry spoke of Robin's 'magnificent mind and his beautiful heart'.
With a trembling voice, the singer told the congregation: 'Life is too short. In Robin's case, absolutely too short.
'We should have had 20 years, 30 years of his magnificent mind and his beautiful heart.'
Referring to his late brother Maurice, he added: 'They were both beautiful. And now they're together. They're actually together.'
'Right up to the end we found conflict': Barry admitted to tension between him and his brother, saying 'god knows we were always arguing', bu added it 'now means nothing'
Farewell to their father: Robin's youngest son and musical partner RJ, and Dwina
Mourners paid tribute to Robin by leaving red roses
Collaborator: Friend Peter Andre, who the late star wrote a song for recently, both placed roses on the coffin
'When you're twins, you're twins all your life. You go through every emotion.
'And they're finally together. I think the greatest pain for Robin in the past 10 years was losing his twin brother, and I think it did all kinds of things to him.
Barry also spoke of his brother's sense of humour. 'There was no funnier man than Spike Milligan - apart from Robin,' he said. 'And his sharp, intuitive wit will live with us forever.
Support: Barry left arm in arm with his daughter
'Always in my heart': Dwina left a touching note on her floral tribute
Red rose floral tributes in the shape of musical notes were left to the pop legend
'You could stand Robin next to Spike Milligan and it would be a competition.'
He hinted at recent tensions between himself and Robin, however, saying: 'We were laughing all the way. Sometimes crying. God knows how much we argued.
'Even right up to the end we found conflict with each other, which now means nothing. It just means nothing. If there's conflict in your lives - get rid of it.'
Emotional: Son RJ and Spencer led the pallbearers from the church after the service
Gibb's elderly mother, Barbara, left the church just before Barry gave his eulogy
Gibb's elderly mother, Barbara, left the church just before Barry gave his eulogy.
He told the congregation: 'This is a very strange experience, having already lost two brothers and now Rob.
'I think there are an awful lot of things happening right now that maybe you won't be aware of. And one is how many people came on such a terrible day. It is staggering.
Final farewell: Robin Gibb's family, including brother Barry, sons Stevie, Spencer and RJ and wife Dwina are pictured leading the procession to St Mary's Church in Thame for his funeral today
For the last time: Gibb's casket leaves his Oxfordshire estate in the glass carriage as fans assemble outside
In mourning: Thousands lined the streets for the procession from the late singer's home, down the high street to the church
'So many people loved this boy, so many illustrious people are here that loved him. And that is such a pleasure to witness.
'The three of us have seen a lot of crowds but I've never seen so much love in one crowd as I'm looking at today - for Rob, you know, for the music. And it's an intense experience for me.
'I think it's an experience none of us will forget. We will keep him in our hearts and minds forever.'
Procession: A horse-drawn glass carriage is taken through Gibb's home town of Thame
Musical tribute: The four black horses wore cloths with golden treble clefs in tribute to the star's career, and were accompanied by a piper
Gibb's family and friends were joined by hundreds of fans, who lined the streets as a glass horse-drawn carriage covered in red roses made its way down the town's high street on the way to the funeral.
Family members including Robin's wife Dwina, his children Spencer, Melissa and RJ, Barry, his wife Linda and his son Stevie, were pictured leading the procession on foot from the gate house of their estate to St Mary's Church.
It had been Gibb's wish to 'say a final goodbye to fans and his home town of Thame', according to his family.
Paying respects: Mike Reed and Peter Andre were pictured amongst the mourners
Showbusiness friends: Sir Tim Rice and Leslie Phillips were also spotted in the crowd outside the church
Susan George and Uri Geller were in attendance
The 62-year-old singer died from kidney failure last month after fighting colon cancer and pneumonia.
The late star's beloved Irish Wolfhounds Ollie and Missy were included in the funeral, following directly behind the cortege and wearing sombre black bows tied around their necks.
Four black horses pulling the carriage wore cloths decorated with gold treble clefs in tribute to Gibb's career, and were accompanied by a piper.
Close to home: St Mary's church is opposite the home which the musician shared with wife Dwina for 19 years
Not left out: Gibb's beloved Irish Wolfhounds Ollie and Missy also took part in the procession
Hometown: A flag of the Isle of Man, where the singer was born, was draped on the coffin
The casket was draped with the flag of the Isle of Man, where the brothers were born.
Celebrity guests including Sir Tim Rice, Uri Geller, Mike Reed and Leslie Phillips were also seen amongst the mourners.
Peter Andre, who was a close friend of the musician, was front and centre to place a rose on the coffin at the burial.
Andre announced last week that he plans to release a tribute single using music written for him by Robin shortly before his death.
'This is a very strange experience, having already lost two brothers': Barry is the only surviving Gibb brother now
'He very kindly wrote a song for me recently and I'm determined to finish working on it when I get back to the UK,' Andre said. 'I'm going to release it and make sure all the proceeds go to his favourite charity.'
St Mary's church is opposite the home which the musician had shared with wife Dwina for 19 years. He will later be buried in the churchyard.
Two candles flickered at the front of the church as some guests entered in tears, to take their places on wooden seats surrounded by pink and white flowers.
They were issued with an order of service printed with a black and white picture of Gibb on the front cover, and images of red roses throughout.
An image of the three members of the Bee Gees - Robin, Maurice and Barry - was on the back.
At the service Dwina will read a poem that she wrote especially for today, and children Spencer, Melissa and RJ will read tributes to their father.
A song written by Robin will also be debuted.
Time to say goodbye: Robin's sons were amongst the pallbearers
POEM TO A POP SUPERSTAR BY BEE GEE'S WIFE
Robin Gibb's widow Dwina read a heartfelt poem she had written for her husband at his funeral service today.
In it, she told how 'no treasure in the lands will replace his happy smile'. Here is the poem, called My Songbird Has Flown:
'My songbird has flown and the world sighs.
'The gentle mouthpiece of his immortal muse has gone
'And no music can be heard that is sweeter than the language of his love,
'No diamond is more precious than the memory of the twinkling in his eyes,
'And no treasure in the lands will replace his happy smile.
'My songbird has flown and the world sighs.
'And if I were to paint a third of what I feel,
'A masterpiece would be yours
'To have and to hold and hang upon you wall.
'If I were to write the the words that spill from my heart, tomes and volumes would make your library wide and tall.
'If I wer e to sing songs of praise for him, Saints would rise to make a chorus fit to please angel heralds.
'And if I were to make music for his gentle ear, celestial harmonies would dance in all the worlds.
'And so no more, his voice now stilled but never gone.
'A depth of silence reigns where once he had his say.
'The veil of night has fallen
'But a dawn of the divine will rise for a new day.
'My songbird has flown and my soul sighs - but he will never go away.'
Banned: The mother of Gibb's love child, Claire Yang, was reportedly banned from the funeral by Dwina
Don't Cry Alone is thought to be his final composition taken from his Titanic Requiem.
The touching song features the opening lines: 'If your heart is breaking, I'm yours whatever, I will not forsake you ever, don't cry alone.'
At the request of the late singer, Bee Gees hit How Deep Is Your Love will be the first song of the service, while guests are due to leave the church to the sound of I Started A Joke, which includes the line, 'I finally died, which started the whole world living.'
According to reports, Dwina has banned the mother of Robin's love child, Claire Yang from attending the funeral.
She has told friends that she would absolutely hate the former housekeeper to attend, but wouldn't turn her away if she did.
The mother of Robin Gibb's love child has been shunned away from attending his funeral, it was revealed today.
Robin had a long-term affair with Claire but was asked to leave the Gibbs’ house by bisexual Dwina when she became pregnant.
Despite having an open relationship it is thought Dwina 'hit the roof' when she discovered Claire was pregnant.
It was revealed last week that Robin had paid out £4million to Claire and their three-year-old daughter Snow Robin.
Barry Gibb is now the only surviving brother. Gibb's twin Maurice died in 2003 following complications from a twisted bowel, and their younger brother Andy - who also had a chart career - died in 1988.
How Deep Is Your Love: Bee Gees songs were included in the service, along with tributes from his children Spencer, Melissa and RJ
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Complete and utter disrespect from Peter Andre having his phone in his hand at the funeral.
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I do hope all you people jumping to Andre's defence will feel ashamed of yourselves if the funeral features in his pathetic show.
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Don't care if I get red arrowed but Peter Andre is the new Blanche from Coronation Street attending funerals for exposure!
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Must be very painful for him, I have brothers and I love them dearly, i cant imagine saying a final goodbye.
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I appreciate what some people are saying about photographers being at the funeral, but a) they would not have been there without permission from the family, b) the Bee Gees were so popular, that this is the nearest we, as fans could get, to pay our respects, and c) Im sure, although obviously I do not know, that Robin would have wanted this, to show his appreciation to his fans, he would have loved it I am sure.
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Tacky to say the least. A private funeral without all the gimmicks would have been more appropriate. Tacky? Gimmicks? REALLY? It was a gorgeous funeral procession. How can they keep everything private? It was in a PUBLIC area.
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Poor Barbara, Robin's mother. How very sad for her to be burying a third son. My thoughts are with her, she must be heartbroken.
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Although I read the coverage and my sympathies and condelences go to his heartbroken family I am appalled at the press intrusion of Robins funeral. This is such a distressing and emotional time for his family I wish for once the press could show a level of decency and respect. God bless RIP Robin
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Reading all the comments bored o'clock with all reviews tonight so switched OFF. Appreciated the Lady on the 6pm news tonight who said "WE all have danced to BGees musics at lots of Birthdays Weddings and will continue to do so". Thx to that LADY my sentiments exactly, that'll do for me as I totally agree. Wonderful music that we will all continue to Dance to.
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All this talk about sunglasses and mobile phones...but i have to ask should photographers have been there in first place at such a intimate emotional setting as laying a loved one to rest? Surely we didn't need photos of them laying their roses? Give them a break.
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