Devastating reason Liz Hurley was missing from Shane Warne service
Heartbreaking details have emerged as to why Shane Warne's former movie star fiancee Liz Hurley was missing from his memorial service at the MCG on Wednesday night.
About 55,000 people flocked to the iconic Melbourne stadium to pay their final respects to a man remembered as a larrikin and a giant of Aussie sport.
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Warne died of a suspected heart attack in Thailand on March 4 at the age of 52, with his three childen - Jackson, Summer and Brooke - unveiling the renamed Great Southern Stand as the Shane Warne Stand.
The three kids were among those to share beautiful tributes to their father and share heartwarming stories about what he meant to them.
In another touching speech, the Spin King's father Keith described his son's death as the "darkest day in our family's life".
Superstar musicians Elton John, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and Robbie Williams all performed songs in honour of Warne, while Aussie actor Hugh Jackman was among a list of other celebrities to pay tribute to Australia's greatest ever bowler.
It was expected that a video message from Warne's former fiancee would be among those beamed on the big screens at the MCG to the tens of thousands of mourners in attendance.
However, it was later revealed that Hurley was “too emotional to encapsulate her feelings into a 30-second clip”.
Master of Ceremonies, Eddie McGuire, confirmed to NewsCorp that Hurley was heavily involved in the lead-up to the memorial and offered “nothing but warmth and respect throughout” the process.
However, McGuire said the grief-stricken former model and actress indicated that summarising her feelings for Warne in a short video message was too difficult emotionally.
“Elizabeth, like another major star and close friend, found it too emotional to encapsulate their feelings into a 30-second grab,” McGuire said.
“She had sent out wonderful tributes and she didn’t want to diminish her grief and love of the Warne family by doing so.
“In the end, her tribute was greater by not doing so, but by supporting the family and the production with her well-wishes and support privately.
“We respected her wishes and completely understand her feelings. There was nothing but warmth and respect throughout the process.”
Hurley was left heartbroken earlier this month when she couldn't be at Warne's private funeral in Melbourne due to work commitments.
Liz Hurley devastated to miss Shane Warne's memorial
Just hours before Warne's private funeral at St Kilda Football Club, Hurley took to social media to express her heartache at not being able to travel to Australia to farewell her former fiancé.
"My heart aches that I can’t be in Australia for Shane’s funeral," she wrote on Instagram.
"I was filming last night and, with the time jump, physically can’t get there."
Following Warne's death, Hurley posted a number of photos from their time together, including a touching tribute to the cricket great.
"These pictures were taken in Sri Lanka to celebrate our engagement - we had all our children with us and it was the happiest time," she wrote.
"It still hasn’t really sunk in that he’s gone. It seems too cruel that all the people who loved him will never have another Lion hug, but our memories will live forever.
"RIP Lionheart, with love your Luna."
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