Bert Newton funeral live updates: Patti Newton arrives at public service for late husband

The guest list for Bert Newton’s state funeral in the grand Gothic revival St Patrick’s Cathedral amounts, as you’d expect, to a virtual who’s who of Melbourne entertainment.

Not that it’s easy to recognise the famous faces behind the obligatory masks. As the five-to-a-pew seating allocation makes clear, this is may be a grand farewell, but it’s still one being staged in the age of restricted public gatherings.

Bert lies in state in front of the sacristy, his coffin draped in an Australian flag, with a mound of yellow roses atop. To the right is a small display of memorabilia: his MBE, his AM, his autobiography, a copy of The Bert and Patti Family Album, the record he and his wife of 50 years released in 1977 (and on which he was mostly confined to spoken-word duties – despite his many stage roles in musical theatre, Bert was largely a comedic presence while Patti was the singer of the family). There’s also a certificate of appreciation from the Marist brothers, something that clearly meant a lot to the lifelong Catholic.

Eddie McGuire, who worshipped Bert as a kid and rehired him as an adult when he was CEO at Nine, is here and will speak. Molly Meldrum is here, and presumably will not. Pete Smith, John Foreman, Rob Sitch and Jane Kennedy, Andy Lee. The guests span the generations, and testify to the enormous impact Bert Newton had on entertainment not just in Melbourne, but in the country as a whole.

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