Reverend Richard Coles has revealed he received a Valentine’s Day card from his late partner, two months after he died.
Appearing on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show to present Friday’s Pause For Thought segment, Richard told host Zoe Ball that he had been surprised to receive the posthumous card.
His partner, Reverend David Coles died in December after a long period of illness.
Asked by Zoe if he got a card this year, Richard said: “I did, from my beloved, which came as rather a surprise, not because he is unromantic or forgetful, but because he died in December.
“With remarkable foresight he arranged for me a Valentine’s card before he departed, and I’m very touched and grateful. And a bit surprised, because in widowhood you think your days of wine and roses are done. Not so.”
The celebrity vicar, who appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2017, entered into a civil partnership with David after the Church of England allowed it in 2005.
The couple lived together with their dogs - dachshunds Daisy, Pongo, Audrey and Horatio - in the vicarage of St Mary’s in Finedon, Northamptonshire.
Richard, who was in the 1980s band The Communards with singer Jimmy Somerville before being ordained, confirmed the death of his 43-year-old partner on Twitter.
“I’m very sorry to say that @RevDavidColes has died. He had been ill for a while,” he wrote.
“Thanks to the brilliant teams who looked after him at @KettGeneral. Funeral details to follow.”
Richard also shared a picture of the couple and quoted Isaiah 60:20: “The Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended”.
Following David’s death, Richard was forced to contact the police after receiving hate mail.
He tweeted at the time: “Police called this evening, sympathetic and professional, and my hateful correspondence is now evidence.”
He added: “Also Northamptonshire Police lit a candle in memory of Rev David Coles at their carol service tonight. There appears to be evidence of something in my eye.”
Rev Richard previously said there had been “99.99999% loveliness from people and then a small but lively correspondence from Christians who wish me to know that D is in hell and I will follow.
“It’s like the Khmer Rouge suddenly popping up in a stream of condolence.”
He said: “A letter, courageously unsigned, begins: ‘Dear Mr Coles, I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am to hear of the death of your partner…’
“It continues ‘I have been praying for your pain for a long time now…’.”
Rev Richard said that the “horrible letters: they don’t touch me”.
He tweeted: “I am right now an expert in pain, the real kind, and these are paper darts among the incoming, and just leave me mildly curious about the state of mind of the writer.”