ROBERT RUNCIE faced death 'with the bravery of a Scots Guard and the calm of a deeply religious man', his daughter said this week.

Lord Runcie, 78, who was Bishop of St Albans, serving the diocese covering south west Hertfordshire, from 1970 until 1980, and Archbishop of Canterbury from then until 1991, died on Tuesday after a six-year battle with prostate cancer.

He had stopped his course of chemotherapy six weeks ago after doctors told him there was no point continuing.

Lord Runcie's daughter Rebecca said: 'We are relieved that his final suffering was not for long.

'We are grateful for all the love and prayers we have received.

'He not only had friends and admirers across the world, but also in the cathedral, the market place and the newsagent. That's the mark of the man.'

The grandfather of four will be buried in the precinct of St Albans Abbey after a funeral mass there at 11am on Saturday, July 22. The service, which he planned himself, will be open to everyone.

Lord Runcie, who lived in Jennings Road, St Albans, gave his final sermon from a wheelchair in the abbey on Saturday, at the funeral of a former Dean of St Albans, Peter Moore.

The Bishop of St Albans, the Right Reverend Christopher Herbert, described the sermon as a 'tour de force'.

He added: 'It was a remarkable address, full of witty asides, which captured the courage, affection and considerable self-sacrifice which characterised his life.

'It was very moving because you could see he was terribly ill and close to death.'

Friends and associates said Lord Runcie's qualities extended far beyond that of a religious leader: he was a decorated war hero, devoted family man, history scholar, pig fancier, and - despite his rather austere public image - a very funny individual.