BUCKINGHAM Palace led the tributes to Wirral's Lord Leverhulme after his sudden death on Tuesday last week.

His death marks the end of the Lord Leverhulme title which has lasted almost 100 years. For, although Lord Leverhulme leaves daughters Victoria, Susan, and Jane, there is no direct heir to his title.

The Viscount, born Philip William Bryce Lever, collapsed last Tuesday evening while being driven back to his Thornton Hough home after visiting relatives in Shropshire.

He was taken to the Countess of Chester Hospital where he was pronounced dead. There will be no inquest into his death.

Lord Leverhulme celebrated his 85th birthday on Saturday, July 1, and his death came as a great shock to all who knew him. Although frail he was still active in the Merseyside and Cheshire regions.

Born in 1915 and educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, he married Margaret Ann Moon in 1937. After serving in the Cheshire Yeomanry during the war he dedicated his life to voluntary work and his family estate in Thorton Hough.

He donated the land on which Clatterbridge Hospital was built, was president of the Clatterbridge League of Friends fundraising group and was Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire for 41 years and a patron of the Cheshire Show for 50 years. He was awarded the Order of the Garter by the Queen in 1988.

A rural man, he enjoyed shooting, fishing and horse racing. Although he took no part in the day-to-day running of Unilever he continued to keep close connections with the company and was recently made a life honorary director.

The funeral is expected to take place in his local parish attended by family only. A thanksgiving service will be held at Chester Cathedral although no date has been fixed yet.

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