A private funeral service took place yesterday for Alexander McQueen, who was found hanged in his London flat earlier this month.

The ceremony was an intimate affair, attended only by the award-winning designer’s family and closest friends including Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Stella McCartney.

The fashion designer’s father Ronald was joined by his five children at the ceremony, which comes two weeks after the 40-year-old’s death.

Daphne Guinness, Sam Taylor-Wood and boyfriend Aaron Johnson were also among the friends who gathered at Saint Paul’s Church in Knightsbridge to pay their respects.

It is expected a larger memorial service open to McQueen’s supporters will take place later this year, although no date or venue has been confirmed.

“We are focusing right now on the Paris show, which takes place on March 9,” a spokesman for the label said.

An inquest heard last week how the 40-year-old hanged himself in the wardrobe of his London home.

He was known from comments left on his Twitter page to have been distressed by the death of his mother, Joyce, and killed himself on the eve of her funeral.

Following the designer’s death, thousands of tributes poured in from both inside and outside the fashion world.

Victoria Beckham, who has often been photographed in McQueen designs, said at the time of his death: “McQueen was a master of fashion, creative genius and an inspiration.”

“Today the fashion industry has lost a true great. An icon of all time. He made all he touched beautiful and will be desperately missed.”

“My heart is very much with his family and friends at this very sad time.”

Game for a laugh: Beyoncé and Jay-Z crack courtside smiles

The fans may have been there to watch the game, but all eyes were on the celebrity couple in the front row.

Basketball fans Beyoncé and Jay-Z put on a rare public show of affection as they enjoyed the match in Dallas yesterday.

Sitting closely side by side, the usually reserved couple laughed and joked together at the NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks.

The discreet couple have been married for two years and together since 2002, but to say they keep a low profile is something of an understatement.

Their demanding lives drag them all over the world — last week Jay-Z was at the Brits while Beyoncé was performing in Trinidad — but they love a trip to the Lakers. Although they frequently collaborate on music projects, Beyoncé has said that not publicly discussing their relationship has helped them.

Mariah Carey’s gold mini struggles to contain her expanding figure

Mariah Carey may have admitted ‘gaining a few pounds’ since her marriage to Nick Cannon, but she clearly isn’t ashamed of her curvier physique.

Performing at the latest stop on her Angels’ Advocate Tour in Los Angeles last night, Carey showed off her figure in all its glory in a figure-hugging gold dress.

The two-piece dress, which started as a billowing ball gown before a section was whipped off to reveal a ruffled mini, appeared slightly too small for her ample curves.

Carey descended on the stage sitting in a swing in the huge ballgown, before her dancers whipped off the skirt to reveal the mini underneath.

The dress was a gold variation of an outfit she has worn at previous concerts, which have also been made in white and lilac.

Speaking last summer, she admitted her happy marriage to toyboy husband Nick Cannon, 29, had affected her waistline.