The funeral of a well-loved Bishop and family man who retired to East Hampshire has taken place in Froxfield.

The Right Reverend Michael Edgar Adie CBE was laid to rest on Monday (March 25) next to his late wife following a service at Guildford Cathedral.

Michael, who was 94 when he died peacefully on March 4 following a short illness, was Bishop of Guildford from 1983 to 1994. He was also present at Queen Elizabeth’s wedding and death, while his ministry took him around the country from Canterbury to the North East.

Michael was born in Romford on November 22, 1929, and was educated in Westminster School and St John’s College, Oxford. He was an attendant at the late HRH Queen Elizabeth’s wedding in Westminster Abbey in 1947, and was ordained in 1955 after a curacy in Sunderland.

He had spells as a vicar, rector and archdeacon and had four children with his wife, Anne Roynon, who he married in Lambeth Palace in 1957.

The father, grandfather and great-grandfather lived in Froxfield with Anne until her death in 2013, before moving to Ballater in Scotland – where he met the future King and Queen following Queen Elizabeth’s death – and Walton-on-Thames in 2022.

Michael also played a major role in the changes which led to the ordination of women priests and was chairman of the General Synod Board of Education.

He remained active in the church, both in Hampshire and Scotland following his retirement, with his “kindness and generosity” continuing to shine through despite his advancing years.