Esther Rantzen said she was ‘deprived of any choice’ over her own death in message written before she died

A newly-published message written prior to the death of Dame Esther Rantzen has revealed she felt "deprived of any choice over my own death", as her family held an "incredibly beautiful" service to lay her to rest.

Relatives of the 86-year-old confirmed that a quiet, private funeral took place last week following her passing last month.

Plans for a broader memorial gathering will be made public in due course, with further details still to be shared.

The Childline founder, who was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in 2023, died at her home in the New Forest on September 30.

Her daughter, Rebecca Wilcox, described the funeral as "incredibly beautiful" and said the family had received widespread messages of sympathy.

She said: “It’s been hugely comforting to know that people around the world felt the same way about her as we did.”

Dame Esther had become a strong proponent for assisted dying in her later years, and her family has now revealed she left a “goodbye and thank you” note for all those who campaigned on the “crucial life and death issue”.

She encouraged campaigners to “battle on”, pledging to “do everything I can from here to help you”.

MPs rejected the assisted dying bill in September.

“I am sure a change in the law will come. I am deeply sad that it won't come soon enough for many of the people who need it,” Dame Esther said at the time.

The former That’s Life! presenter wrote: “It would have transformed the way I died if the law had allowed me to ask for assistance to die when my life had become unbearable. Not because I would have used that choice.

“But because the last days and weeks would have been infused with the hope and confidence of a swift, pain-free death and my family would not have had to witness any suffering or lack of dignity and privacy at the end.

“I know from my own experience that witnessing those agonising moments can blot out all the memories of so many happy days spent with the people that you love.

“I was extremely lucky because I had the talent, skill and support of my local Oakhaven Hospice. But I was still deprived of any choice over my own death by the current messy criminal law.”

While she knew the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill – which had been introduced in Parliament in 2024 but failed to make its way into law – would not have come into force in time for her, she added: “Now I am dead I am sorry that there is not much more I can do to speed it on its way for the sake of other future generations”.

Dame Esther confirmed she had become “too physically frail to take the flight” to an assisted dying clinic in Switzerland but thanked “the Dignitas team for everything they did to try and help me”, adding: “A combination of my terminal illness and the cruel law frustrated them and me”.

Paying tribute to those who had supported the pro-assisted dying campaign, she said: “So goodbye and thank you to everyone who has taken an interest in this crucial life and death issue.

“To those who have opposed it and blocked the new Bill, rest assured I will not come back to haunt you, I have better things to do and anyway I believe you too have the right to choose, but not the right to impose your choice on the most vulnerable people such as dying frail little old ladies like me.

“To those who will battle on and continue to support the reform and especially patients and their loved ones who urgently need it, I will do everything I can from here to help you. After all, nobody wants to shorten life, just to shorten death.”

Dame Esther’s family has asked that anyone who wants to remember and pay tribute to the late broadcaster make donations in lieu of flowers to charities Oakhaven Hospice, Childline, The Silver Line and Cats Protection in her name.