Stephen Gately remembered

Oct 18, 2009, 12:00 GMT

Members of the boy band \'Boyzone\' (Ronan Keating, Front L, Mikey Graham, Front R, Shane Lynch, Back R) and members of Stephen Gately\'s family carry his remains from St. Laurence O\' Toole church where the funeral ceremony took place, in Dublin, Ireland, 17 October 2009. Stephen Gately (33) died on 11 October in Majorca where he and his husband were spending their holidays. EPA/AIDAN CRAWLEY

Stephen Gately was a "wonderful, beautiful son".

The late singer's mother Margaret Gately paid tribute to her "amazing" son last night (17.10.09) at his wake at Dublin's Four Seasons hotel, following his emotional funeral.

The mother-of-five spoke of her pride for the Boyzone star, who died at his Majorca home, in Spain, last weekend aged just 33.

She told Britain's Sunday Mirror newspaper: "He was a wonderful son - nobody can understand how proud I am of him. A wonderful, beautiful son. Today was a testament to Stephen that he's made an impression on the world and he won't be forgotten. He would have been deeply proud of the turn-out on the streets where he grew up. I hope I brought him up properly and people can realise how amazing he actually was.

"His sexuality wasn't a big deal. I knew hew as gay and it wasn't a problem. I loved him no matter what."

Stephen had been holidaying on the Spanish island with his civil partner Andy Cowles - who he wed in a civil ceremony in 2006 - when he died.

Grieving Margaret has vowed to "be there" for her son's devastated widower and says she will treat Andy like a son.

She explained: "I'm going to love Andy and be there for him. He's one of the family - Stephen loved him with all his heart and he made my son happy. I asked Stephen when they got together if it was love and he said it was more than anything he'd ever found. He was besotted."

Margaret - who was comforted yesterday by husband Martin - and Andy chose to dress Stephen's body in a classic black suit, white shirt and black tie.

He was also wearing his favourite custom-made red Nike trainers, which had his nickname 'Steo' inscribed on one shoe and 'Gately' on the other.

Stephen's Boyzone bandmate's Ronan Keating, Shane Lynch, Keith Duffy and Mikey Graham wore matching suits adorned with a red accessory when they were pallbearers.

After the funeral service at the St Lurence O'Toole Church in Dublin, Ireland, close friends and family travelled to the Glasvenin Cemetery for a private cremation. Photographs of Boyzone manager Louis Walsh - who was very close to Stephen and thought of him as a "son" - stiffly hugging Andy outside the church have emerged.

It has been reported relationships between the two men have been strained since Stephen and Andy had a domestic fight outside London's The Ivy restaurant in 2006, where the pop star was photographed in a headlock.

Lat night, closed circuit television (CCTV) footage emerged showing a "sober" and "happy" Stephen hours before he died.

The video clip, which shows him with Andy and two friends at the Aries nightclub, backs up reports from bar staff in Majorca who say he had enjoyed a quiet evening out with friends and hadn't been binge drinking, as it was earlier reported.

A barman said: "I know he wasn't drunk or anything."

Meanwhile, a toxicology report of the late pop star's death is expected to show there were traces of anti-depressants and small amounts of cannabis in his system.

According to Britain's Sunday Mirror newspaper, the investigation - which took place in the UK - will show there was no sign of class A drugs heroin, cocaine or ecstacy in his body.

Last week it was speculated Spanish forensic teams had discovered evidence to believe he had been smoking cannabis on the night he died, which could have caused a fatal heart attack.