A cause of death was not revealed.
Dame Patricia Routledge (left) was best known for playing the overbearing, social-climbing snob Hyacinth Bucket, pronounced Bouquet, in the legendary BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances. Photo / Getty Images
Many of Routledge’s fans took to X to pay tribute to the late acting legend.
One person said: “RIP Patricia Routledge.
“An outstanding actress who was simply unforgettable as Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet).”
A second user wrote: “So devastated to hear the wonderful Dame Patricia Routledge has passed away.
“I cherish the afternoon we got to spend together just last summer.
“A true icon known for Mrs Bouquet and Broadway.”
And a third fan penned: “R.I.P. Dame Patricia Routledge, a wonderful woman and actress. Mrs Bucket (Bouquet) will live on forever!”
Routledge – who was born in Tranmere, Merseyside, in February 1929 – had many acting credits to her name.
She made her professional stage debut at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1952 and her Broadway debut in How’s the World Treating You in 1966.
In 1968, Routledge won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in Darling of the Day.
And in 1988, she claimed an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for Candide.
However, Routledge’s most notable role came in 1990, playing Hyacinth Bucket – pronounced Bouquet – in the BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances.
The show – created and written by 95-year-old Roy Clarke – aired until 1995, and it followed Bucket trying to climb up the social ladder by impressing rich and successful people.
However, it was her middle-class working family who held her back from achieving that.
Pearl-wearing snob Bucket used to throw candlelight suppers and would call people on her and her husband Richard’s (Clive Swift’s) white slimline telephone.
And Bucket quickly became an iconic character on British – and global – television.
Speaking in a talk at the Derby Theatre in 2024, Routledge said she received letters from fans of the show – almost three decades after it ended.
The star – who won a British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Actress for her performance on Keeping Up Appearances – said: “I get letters still from all over the world even though we made the last series in 1995.
“I had a letter from a lad of nine or 10 a few weeks ago saying how much the family enjoy it and watch it together.
“He said, ‘My dad’s been laughing at a woman like you across the road for years.’ Wonderful.
“Fans in America still hold candlelight suppers (infamously organised by Hyacinth in the TV series) and invite me.
“People like it because there’s no smut.”
In 2004, the late Queen Elizabeth presented Routledge with an MBE at Buckingham Palace.
And in 2017, Routledge was made a Dame thanks to her services to entertainment and charity.