Unmarried Gypsy given funeral ‘match for a queen’ sporting marriage ceremony gown in glass coffin

Pauline Devil’s body was seen inside a glass coffin while being carried through London by members of the Traveller community, with her body draped in a Victorian-era wedding dress

A non-verbal Gypsy woman was given a unique funeral at a London cemetery, as she was taken to her final resting place by a procession of Rolls Royces and six white horses. Pauline Devlin, who never married, was carried through the capital wearing a Victorian wedding dress in a glass coffin.

Devlin, 50, was taken to her grave at Kensal Green Cemetery while a New Orleans-style jazz band played tunes like When The Saints Go Marching In. Her friends and family, all dressed in white, watched mournfully as her coffin was paraded by undertakers in top hats.

One relative said: “It was a send-off fit for a queen. As much as it was to say goodbye, it was also to give her a big day that she never got.”

Another relative said there had never been a funeral like this in the Traveller community. Devlin, who died of pneumonia, had her hair styled and a full face of makeup as she made her final journey.

Her unique coffin had to be placed inside another container before it was lowered into the ground because of its fragility. It was then decorated with hundreds of white roses.

A relative said: “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.”

In a tribute reported by The Sun, Devlin’s family said: “She 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. 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.

“She loved music and she would move from side to side in her younger years. She would clap her hands and sit smiling.”

Devlin’s mother, Angela Coyle, also had a huge funeral in 2009, according to one relative.

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