When a famous person dies, there's a lot to consider for the funeral. For instance: should his wife or his girlfriend attend, or maybe both? Charles Dickens was fabulously famous when he died suddenly of a stroke in 1870. However, he had left explicit instructions for his funeral and burial, which was to be in one of the small, local cemeteries.
Buried in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner; that no public announcement be made of the time or place of my burial; that at the utmost not more than three plain mourning coaches be employed; and that those who attend my funeral wear no scarf, cloak, black bow, long hat-band, or other such revolting absurdity.
But since those rites are carried out by the living, it was not to be. Dickens was interred at Westminster Abbey, in Poet's Corner, where Geoffrey Chaucer, Samuel Johnson, and other literary figures were buried. His grave was left open for three days afterward for the public to pay respects. These changes to Dickens' plans were ascribed to public demand, but that's not all there is to the story. You can read what happened to Dickens after his death at Smithsonian.
(Image credit: User:Jack1956)
