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Lady Pat Routledge, who passed away at the age of 96, imprinted herself on the British psyche as the pretentious Mrs. Bouquet.

Insisting it was "said Bouquet," the character ran roughshod over her patient husband and confused neighbours in the popular sitcom, one of Britain's best-loved sitcoms in the 1990s.

Behaving like a duchess while living in a suburb, Hyacinth's over-the-top status-seeking plans were ultimately destined to failure—while she battled to keep her dignity.

It was Lady Patricia's best-known part in a professional life that saw her win stage honors on each side of the Atlantic, become the lead of Alan Bennett's famous TV soliloquies, and star as BBC1's investigative Mrs. Wainthropp.

Formative Years and Start in Acting

Katherine Patricia Routledge was delivered in Merseyside on February 17 1929.

Her dad was a haberdasher and she later recalled sheltering from German air raids in the cellar of his store during the Second World War.

She studied English at local Liverpool University and planned to teach. Rather, she entered the local theatre prior to studying at the Bristol Old Vic.

Her successful stage journey brought her from the regions to the West End, and finally to Broadway, where the composer chose her to star in his stage production 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in 1976.

She had already won a Tony award for her performance in Darling of the Day.

She could transition effortlessly from lighthearted plays to serious drama.

She went from Stratford-upon-Avon, appearing with the RSC and later to the London's national stage in the capital.

There, her starring part in the theatre production Carousel involved her singing the rousing You'll Never Walk Alone.

She also took various minor movie parts, especially in 1967's To Sir, With Love, and the comedian's comedy outing Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River.

Her theatre and broadcast work demonstrated her versatility and earned her awards, but it was television that gave Routledge with her most high profile roles.

TV Success and Memorable Roles

Early television appearances featured popular shows like Z Cars and Steptoe and Son.

And later, among Britain's most respected playwrights, the dramatist, penned a series of remarkable Talking Heads TV monologues for her.

Routledge overcame her early hesitation to act his scripts and excelled as A Woman of No Importance and A Lady of Letters.

She went onto play a lonely, middle-aged department store clerk drawn into a affair with a kinky foot doctor in Bennett's Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet.

A humorous performance as the exaggerated character on The Victoria Wood Show led to the development of Mrs. Bouquet.

Routledge recalled being sent the episodes by the author, Roy Clarke—who had also done Last of the Summer Wine and Open All Hours.

"I had opened the pages for a while at one o'clock in the night," she said, "I read straight through and the character jumped off the script. I knew that lady, I'd met several of that woman."

Keeping Up Appearances ran for five series and featured several Christmas episodes.

In a documentary, she later claimed that fans had included the royal family and Pope Benedict XVI.

It turned into BBC Worldwide's most-sold programme ever and ensured Routledge was recognised as distant as Botswana.

For her work on the comedy, she was voted Britain's all-time best-loved actress in 1996, but after five years in the part, she decided it was the moment for a new direction.

"I decided to end it to an close," she explained, "and, of course, the broadcaster wasn't pleased with at all."

She believed that the writer was beginning to repeat ideas and recalled a bit of advice from the performer, Ronnie Barker.

"He made sure to finish with audiences asking, ‘Oh, won't you do any more?’ she said, rather than people remarking, ‘Is that still on?’"

Later Work and Private Life

Portraying the homely but sharp sleuth in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates brought her ongoing popularity on TV, but she consistently referred to the stage as "the test."

Years after she stopped appearing frequently on screen, Routledge made stage travels equally in the UK and abroad.

If journalists posed the predictable inquiry, she asked them to write the word withdrawal since, she clarified: "It isn't in my vocabulary."

She never married or raised kids, but informed the press of two great affairs in her younger days, one with a married man.

"I felt remorse and an acute feeling that there had to be loss," she admitted. "I suppose I persuaded myself that it was all right for the moment because his union was not a vibrant thing."

In place of family, she dedicated herself to her art, honoring it with the skill, discipline and devotion that were always respected by her peers.

She was scathing about the broadcaster's decision in 2016 to revive Keeping Up Appearances, but this time placed in the 1950s and featuring a younger incarnation of her character.

Challenging the Corporation's policy of resurrecting old sitcoms she remarked, "For what reason are they attempting this sort of project, they must be desperate."

She had previously clashed with the BBC over their move to not order a film she had written about the writer the children's author (Routledge was a Patron of the Beatrix Potter Society), which finally aired on Channel 4.

Upon reaching 90, she continued to live quietly in Chichester, where she busied herself raising money for the cathedral roof.

In 2017, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire but—unlike Hyacinth—titles did not affect her head.

Lady Patricia always stated she thanked her Northern roots and solid family for providing her good sense with her time and her finances.

Even so, she admitted that, should any additional money come her way, she'd certainly use it on "several bottles of sparkling wine"—an appreciation of the finer things in existence that she shared with her most famous creation.

"I was never stage-struck," she declared. "I'm not stage-struck now. No one is more surprised than I am that I have, in fact, spent my career pursuing this."