ASOS billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen on May 5 paid an emotional farewell to his three children who were killed in the Easter Sunday terror attacks in Sri Lanka.
The tycoon wrapped his arms around his wife Anne and their surviving daughter Astrid as the three white coffins draped with flowers and balloons were carried into Aarhus Cathedral in Denmark.
Alma, 15, Agnes, 12, and five-year-old Alfred Povlsen died during a luxury family holiday when ISIS suicide bombers ambushed the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo.
With tears in her eyes and a look of extreme pain on her face, mum Anne leant into her husband for comfort as they watched the three small coffins arrive in three hearses.
They were joined by 700 mourners including members of the Danish Royal Family and the country’s Prime Minister.
During the emotional service, Pastor Arne Holst-Larsen said, “The loss of our beloved children Alma, Agnes and Alfred are completely incomprehensible. With the many lovely people we have around us, close friends, talented colleagues and our loving family, we will come together through it.”
“We greatly appreciate the humanity that is also shown in Brande tonight - not only to our families and children, but to all the victims of the cruel acts in Sri Lanka,” he said.
And in a poignant moment after the service, Astrid released colourful balloons in memory of her sisters and brother.
Over 700 mourners
The funeral comes two days after a memorial service in their home town Brande, when Povlsen, 46, described the family’s loss as “utterly incomprehensible.”
The fashion moghul, Scotland’s largest landowner who has a net worth of £6 billion, also thanked family and friends in the town of Brande for their love and support since the tragedy.
The outdoors-loving family reportedly divided their time between Denmark and Scotland.
In an open letter posted a few days ago, Povlsen and his wife Anne Storm Pedersen, 40, said they would pass on their 12 estates - and their conservation project - to their kids when they die.
He wrote, “From our home at Glenfeshie, both Anne and myself – our children and our parents too – have long enjoyed a deep connection with this magnificent landscape. The loss of our beloved children Alma, Agnes and Alfred is completely incomprehensible.”
“As the holdings have grown and our common vision for the work becomes ever clearer, we have incorporated the entirety of the project into a venture we call Wildland. It is a significant and lifelong commitment that we have made - not just for ourselves, but for the Scottish people and Scottish nature too - a commitment which we believe in deeply,” he said.
He added, “We are working towards an entirely sustainable model; everything in balance, a project that can endure beyond what Anne and myself can ever expect to see in our own lifetime.”
Three days before the attacks, Povlsen’s daughter Alma shared an Instagram photo of her siblings Astrid, Agnes and Alfred - calling them ‘three little bears’ - in front of a swimming pool lined by palm trees.
It is thought that the proud dad was also injured in the attacks but it has not been made clear how.
Eight Britons were killed in the terror attacks at churches and hotels in the Easter bombings.
(Source: The Sun)
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