Long before the world lost Alan Rickman, those closest to him were quietly ensuring his final days were as comfortable as possible.
Among them was his longtime friend and on-screen wife, Emma Thompson, who went the extra mile to make the hospital room feel less like a clinical space and more like home.
Emma, 66, had shared the screen with Alan in the 2003 romantic comedy Love Actually, and their friendship stretched back even further to their 1995 collaboration on Sense and Sensibility.
When Rickman, the Harry Potter legend, faced his final days battling pancreatic cancer, Thompson stepped in to provide warmth and familiarity amid the sterile hospital environment.
Creating Comfort in Difficult Times
Rima Horton, Rickman’s wife since 2012, recently spoke about those intimate last months of the actor’s life.
She revealed to The Sunday Times that Emma often visited Alan, bringing personal touches like throws and a standing lamp to help him feel at ease.
“She was creating a salon around him while he was in bed,” Rima explained.
“It didn’t feel like a hospital room. Alan wanted to say goodbye to his friends on his terms and keep control over everything, even planning his own funeral to avoid any chaos.”
Rickman’s focus on comfort extended to one key request for his doctors: he did not want to die in pain. Rima reflected on how grateful she was that his final moments honored this wish.
Keeping His Illness Private
Throughout his illness, Rickman and Rima chose to keep his cancer diagnosis private.
“We didn’t tell anybody apart from our families at first.
Alan didn’t want people to look at him and feel sorry for him,” she said.
She added that she deliberately avoided researching the disease online, preferring to live with hope rather than fear.
Despite knowing the severity of his condition, Rima said they focused on preserving dignity and normalcy.
“We knew it was fully grown and had spread. I didn’t Google it.
We knew what it meant. The chemo wouldn’t work, but you live in hope.”
Alan Rickman’s Thoughtful Farewell
Rickman’s meticulous nature extended to his final send-off.
Rima previously shared that he had carefully designed his funeral, selecting not only the location and speakers but also the music.
Among his choices was Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson’s energetic hit Uptown Funk, alongside Take It With Me by Tom Waits.
From Madly, Deeply: The Alan Rickman Diaries, Rima recalled: “Alan designed his own funeral. Ian Rickson, the theatre director, oversaw everything.
Alan was surrounded by loved ones and remained in control until January 13. He passed peacefully at 9:15 in the morning on January 14, 2016. He wasn’t in pain. He just went.”
A Heartfelt Goodbye
Rickman’s cremation took place on February 3, with close friends and family in attendance.
The funeral service later that afternoon at the Actors’ Church in London celebrated his life with carefully chosen music and a moving communal sing-along to The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore.
Through it all, Rima emphasizes that the actor’s final days were guided by dignity, love, and the presence of those who meant the most to him—a farewell truly crafted by Alan Rickman himself.
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