More than 400 mourners gathered for the funeral of British tech billionaire Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter – two months after they died in a superyacht tragedy.
Seven people died when Lynch’s £30 million Bayesian yacht sank in just 16 minutes after being caught in a freak storm off Porticello, a small fishing village off the coast of Sicily, in the early hours of August 19 .
Fifteen people – including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares – survived the tragedy, which occurred just months after he was acquitted by a US court of multibillion-dollar fraud involving software giant Hewlett Packard.
An inquest ruled earlier this month that Mr Lynch drowned, but his daughter’s death remains under investigation.
As the tragedy is investigated by Italian authorities, around 450 mourners poured into the church in St James’s Piccadilly, central London, on Thursday to say goodbye to Mr Lynch and his daughter.
Mr Lynch’s coffin, covered with a pall with a photo of the family’s home in Suffolk, was carried into the church by friends and colleagues.
Hannah, who was due to start a degree at Oxford University this year, had her coffin lifted by her classmates from Latymer Upper School in west London. Her pall was decorated with one of her many poems.
Mike Lynch, 59, and Hannah, 18, were among seven people who died when the Bayesian sank in August
Hannah is pictured cuddling the family’s Shetland sheepdog named Faucet, her father’s favorite dog
A handout photo made available by the Perini Navi Press Office on August 19 shows the ‘Bayesian’ sailboat in Palermo, Sicily, Italy
Behind the coffins walked Mr. Lynch’s widow, Mrs. Bacares, who carried a Shetland sheepdog named Faucet, her husband’s favorite dog. The couple’s eldest daughter, Esme 22, also followed, along with three of the other family dogs.
According to The Sunday timesmourners entered the church as Beatles’ Blackbird and Neil Young’s Harvest Moon played.
Standing between the two coffins, Reverend Lucy Winkett told mourners: ‘I say welcome because you are, but the truth is of course no one wants to be here.’
Nobel laureate Sir Paul Nurse praised Mr Lynch, known as “Britain’s Bill Gates”, for his “enormous contribution” to the country.
During the eulogy, he also expressed his frustration with the government, which extradited Lynch to US authorities last year.
“This was wrong, and in my opinion it was disgraceful, both shameful and shameless,” he said.
“My words are powerful because I am still angry about this.”
The second person to speak was Albert Read, the former director of Conde Nast UK, and a family friend with daughters the same age as the Lynches.
Morgan Stanley boss Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy were among the dead
Lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda (both in the photo) did not survive the superyacht tragedy
Recaldo Thomas, chef on the Bayesian, was the first person recovered after the yacht sank
He told mourners that Mr Lynch was eligible for a knighthood in 2012, but it was quietly withdrawn after Hewlett Packard’s allegations.
“Mike shrugged his shoulders and was much prouder when he was elected a Member of the Royal Society for 2014,” said Read.
He added that Mr Lynch had a deep “gratitude for the loyalty of those who stood by him during those difficult years”.
After the second hymn, Jerusalem, the emotional service turned to the memory of Hannah, whose former head of English described her as a special student.
She was the last of the seven to be found four days after the sinking, her body hidden behind a mattress below deck.
Jon Mitropoulos-Monk, head of English at Latymer, told the church: “I have a double first-class Oxford English degree. At 17, Hannah is more capable than I was at 17, and in several ways she is capable of more than I am now.”
Two of Hannah’s closest friends also reminisced about her hunger for reading and debating, the late nights at Latin camp talking about boys, or the meaning of life.
An Italian fire brigade diving team returns to port on the fifth day of the search and salvage operation after the luxury yacht Bayesian sank in a storm
Others read from her poetry, while a musician played Just Like Heaven by the Cure.
This was followed by a sermon, the Lord’s Prayer and the Recommendation.
The pallbearers lifted the coffins and walked back down the aisle, past Esme and Angela, as Alphaville guitarist Forever Young sang.
On the side of both Mr. Lynch and her daughter’s coffins was a package of their favorite sweets.
The burial took place almost exactly two months after the Bayesian sank off the coast of Sicily.
There were a total of 10 passengers and 12 crew members on board when it sank. The bodies of the dead, including Mr Lynch and Hannah, were recovered after a several-day search by divers.
Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, 70, his wife Judy, 71, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo were all found dead. Hannah was the last to be found.
The yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas, was also immediately found on the scene.