The actress also starred in Alan Bennett’s TV monologues and played BBC One’s amateur sleuth Hetty Wainthropp, while also enjoying an acclaimed stage career.
Canon David Nason was a close friend of Dame Patricia for more than 30 years and the pair met through his role as a theatre chaplain.
He said: “Some way or another we kind of stuck together through thick and thin, through the highs and the lows.”
Canon Nason said he used to read fan letters to her from “all over the world” towards the end of her life.
“It’s amazing what they said and the joy that she brought to people,” he added.
“People who had been suffering terrible diseases, they’d watch one of her [shows], well Keeping Up Appearances usually, and it had made them feel a whole lot better.”
