BBC News Online: UK

Dando's fiance faces pain of wedding day

Instead, Jill Dando's fiance was being supported by friends on Saturday as he remembered the murdered TV presenter.

Ms Dando and doctor Alan Farthing had booked their marriage at a London church, and the TV presenter was in the process of preparing for the big day when she was killed.

On 26 April, when she was murdered on the doorstep of her Fulham home, Ms Dando was beginning a fortnight's holiday which she had set aside to organise her wedding after several months of travelling.

The 37-year-old had an appointment for the first fitting for her wedding dress and was planning to sort out invitations.

On the evening before she died, the couple had prepared a letter for Claridges, where they intended to hold the reception.

One of her last telephone calls was to a person who was helping to organise the couple's honeymoon.

Ms Dando had already compiled the wedding guest list in her Filofax. That list was used to ensure all her friends and family were invited to the funeral in her home town of Weston-super-Mare.

In an interview after her death, her fiance said: "I'd found the perfect partner in Jill and not everybody has that opportunity or is given that honour in life.

"For that, I am extremely grateful and I feel very fortunate."

He will be joining friends and family in a public celebration of Ms Dando's life on Tuesday, when a thanksgiving service is held in All Souls Church, London, next to the BBC's Broadcasting House. More than 600 people will be at the service.

Relevant Stories

Mystery man traced in Dando murder hunt (24 Sep 99 | UK)
Dando police intensify hunt (09 Sep 99 | UK)
Bullet clue in Dando murder (29 Jul 99 | UK)
Dando detectives rule out boyfriends (09 Aug 99 | UK)
Dando inquiry: The first 100 days (02 Aug 99 | UK)

Internet Links

Jill Dando Tribute Page
Scotland Yard

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

In this section

Next steps for peace
Blairs' surprise over baby
Bowled over by Lord's
Beef row 'compromise' under fire
Hamilton 'would sell mother'
Industry misses new trains target
Quins fightback shocks Cardiff (From Sport)
Vodafone takeover battle heats up (From Business)
IRA ceasefire challenge rejected
Thousands celebrate Asian culture
Christie could get two-year ban (From Sport)
Colleagues remember Compo (From Entertainment)
Mother pleads for baby's return
Toys withdrawn in E.coli health scare
Nurses role set to expand (From Health)
Israeli PM's plane in accident
More lottery cash for grassroots
Pro-lifers plan shock launch
Double killer gets life
Cold 'cure' comes one step closer (From Health)
Straw on trial over jury reform (From UK Politics)
Tatchell calls for rights probe into Mugabe
Ex-spy stays out in the cold
Blair warns Livingstone (From UK Politics)
Smear equipment `misses cancers' (From Health)
Boyzone star gets in Christmas spirit (From Entertainment)
Fake bubbly warning
Murder jury hears dead girl's diary
Germ warfare fiasco revealed (From UK Politics)
Blair babe triggers tabloid frenzy
Tourists shot by mistake
A new look for News Online