Shattered friends and family of Caroline Aherne continue to pay tribute to the comedy trailblazer after her untimely death from cancer at the weekend.

As soon as the news of her passing from lung cancer broke on Saturday, British TV personalities and musicians rushed to honour her memory. The 52-year-old's brother Patrick added his own moving tributes to the fearlessly funny woman. In a statement, he said:

“I lost a beautiful sister and the world has lost an amazing talent. I know Caroline would want everybody to be happy and not sad and I think we should now remember the comedy legacy she has left for us. RIP Caroline.”

An unnamed source close to the family has been speaking to the press about how sudden Aherne's death was, so much so that the star "died on her own". Noel Gallagher, a fellow Manchunian and long-time friend of Aherne's, used Instagram to pay respect to his friend of over 20 years, posting a photo of the star with the caption “RIP Kaz…I shall sing for you tonight. (My God you made us laugh!)"  

RIP Kaz..? I shall sing for you tonight. (My god you made us laugh!)

A photo posted by Noel Gallagher (@themightyi) on Jul 2, 2016 at 8:35am PDT

At a show later that night with his band the High Flying Birds, Gallagher dedicated ‘Half The World Away’ to Aherne, saying: “The following song is for a friend of mine who died this afternoon. Her name was Caroline and she was a very very funny woman.” Fans of The Royle Family will immediately recognise this tune as the theme song to the hit British sitcom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e6oDGfLZrU Comic, actor and writer Steve Coogan of Alan Partridge fame, and old friend of the star, payed his tributes in a touching piece in The Guardian. He wrote:

“If I was in Manchester I’d go through my phone book, and Caroline would be the person I’d end up calling because she was just a very funny girl. She had that northern, working class, Irish immigrant humour. She was naturally funny, and cross-generational. Her comedy wasn’t intellectual but it was clever, and intuitive. Caroline would always find peoples’ achilles heels, but her humour was never nasty.”

Coogan praised Caroline’s ability to make fun of people in an endearing manner and shared a wickedly entertaining joke that she would say to him: “How many Steve Coogans does it take to change a lightbulb? Only one, but he’ll let you know how much it cost.” He finished on a moving note, a testament to her personality: “I loved her. She use to make me cry with laughter. This is the first time she’s made me cry without laughing.” At the weekend, Aherne's Royle Family co-star Ralf Little said:

“Aside from all the obvious things-she was generous, warm, hilarious, kind, caring and decent –there was something that set her apart. I think it was joy. Caroline had a joy about her. She had some well documented difficult times but actually she prized laughter above all else. Those twinkly blue eyes would flash with mischief and you knew you were in for a rough time as she’s mercilessly take the p**s, without ever causing hurt or offence. Caroline saw the world slightly differently to the rest of us and delighted in the humble unpretentious absurdities of everyday life, without ever looking down on it.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHbC8GJB_Ij/?tagged=carolineaherne Aherne paved the way for female writers and comedians at a time when it was highly unusual to see a women in the driver’s seat. Aside from her sharp wit, praise has poured in for the beloved talents unpretentious and down to earth nature. She leaves behind an iconic comedy legacy, and was most recognisable as the writer and star of The Mrs Merton Show and The Royle Family, as well as narrating the hit TV Channel4 show Gogglebox, the stars of which praised her talents on Twitter. https://twitter.com/C4Gogglebox/status/749267727571906560 https://twitter.com/stephanddom/status/749329132425707524 https://twitter.com/Louisxmichael/status/749263870401843201 https://twitter.com/ellieandizzi/status/749256209425960961