Andy Drozdziak
A Catholic priest arrived at a London church to conduct a funeral only to find that there was no body and some mourners present were actors.
MailOnline reported that Fr Rupert McHardy was preparing to preside over the funeral of a 23-year-old Latvian man called Lauris Zaube, missing since New Year, at London Oratory Catholic church in South Kensington. Fr Rupert McHardy discovered that, when undertakers were collecting the body, they were told, ‘there is no body, we have ashes.’
The funeral was then cancelled when Fr Rupert confirmed that there was no body present in the coffin and the mourners were paid actors.
A man he knew as Clyde Zaube had organised the funeral, having been in contact and chosen the funeral readings. However, on the day, Zaube refused to acknowledge Fr Rupert and “it became clear he wasn’t who he claimed to be”.
In a macabre twist, half of the congregation turned out to be actors and the other half were described as ‘sinister-looking.’
Fr Rupert told MailOnline: “When I realised it wasn’t a real funeral we said ‘we can’t do this.
“We told them to leave and they all left relatively happily.
“If they had been a real family they would have been weeping and crying.”
Fr Rupert found the experience ‘very, very weird’.
“We were paid. The funeral directors were paid. We haven’t lost any money but it’s very, very weird,” he said.
“I was quite shaken afterwards. I felt very disturbed by it. Normally you take people at their word. No expense was spared – top hats, a horse-drawn hearse, two expensive vintage cars, a full choir.”
Police are currently investigating the incident.
Picture: London Oratory Catholic church