Gypsy Wedding suicide twins get whisky and Rolex floral tributes at funeral

Hundreds of mourners have turned out for the funeral of twin brothers who died in a joint suicide just days before Christmas.

Billy and Joe Smith, who appeared on the Channel 4 TV series My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding in 2014, are today being laid to rest in Sevenoaks, Kent.

Hundreds of people began to line the streets for the brothers’ funeral procession ahead of the service today, which included two separate horse drawn carriages to carry their coffins from their grandmother’s house.

A pair of white horses with white feathered plumes on their heads pulled the carriages, the first for Joe, who was born first, and Billy, whose carriage followed behind.

Elaborate floral displays were laid in doting gran Pheobe Smith’s front garden before the procession, including one depicting a tequila bottle, another whisky, one in the shape of ‘Billy and Joe’s red wine’, while two made up silver and gold Rolex watches.

Billy and Joe’s favourite songs were played on a speaker while mourners gathered to admire the extravagant tributes.

Multiple white cars then brought relatives along the two-mile route to the service, held at St John the Baptist Church.

Hundreds of tearful mourners walked the route behind – some seen kissing the windows of the carriages holding the brothers’ coffins, saying ‘I love you’ to each twin.

The carriage carrying father-of-two Joey had the word ‘Daddy’ spelled out in white flowers on its roof while Billy had ‘Uncle’ on top of his.

A police officer directed around 30 cars out of the residential street where grandmother Pheobe lives, towards Sevenoaks town centre.

Joe and Billy were tragically found next to each other in a country lane on the morning of December 28 last year after a relative found a suicide note, a coroner was told.

The tree surgeons, who had celebrated their 32nd birthdays just two weeks earlier, were remembered on a Facebook memorial page as brothers who ‘came into this world together and went into the next together’.

Paddy Doherty, one of the reality show’s biggest names and winner of Celebrity Big Brother, said in a video tribute that the deaths of the ‘two good-looking boys’ were a ‘terrible tragedy’.

Other tributes on the memorial page said it was ‘just heartbreaking two beautiful young souls gone too soon’ and wished the pair would ‘both rest in gods home in heaven in eternal peace’.

Need support? Contact the Samaritans

For emotional support you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.