Elizabeth Hurley's 'heart aches' as Shane Warne honoured at private memorial

cricket superstar Shane Warne was farewelled at a private memorial service on Sunday with former fiance Elizabeth Hurley saying her "heart aches" for not being able to attend. The legendary leg spinner's body was found at a luxury resort in Thailand on March 4, with his death aged just 52 provoking shock and grief around the world from prime ministers, rock stars and fellow players. An autopsy revealed he died of natural causes following a suspected heart attack with a private jet flying him home to his native Melbourne. He was remembered before family and friends in an invitation-only service at St Kilda Football Club, an Australian Rules team he supported all his life. Warne's three children Brooke, Jackson, and Summer were expected to be at the centre of proceedings with local media personalities and his close-knit poker group also attending.

Cricket teammates including Mark Taylor, Ian Healy, Mark Waugh, Michael Clarke, Glenn McGrath and ex-England captain Michael Vaughan were all seen arriving. But Warne's former partner, British actress Hurley, said she was unable to make the celebration of a larger-than-life character who transcended his sport. "My heart aches that I can't be in Australia tomorrow for Shane's funeral," she wrote on Instagram late Saturday. "I was filming last night and, with the time jump, physically can't get there." She accompanied her message with pictures of the couple celebrating their engagement in Sri Lanka.

They became a couple after Warne split with the mother of his children, Simone Callahan. But they parted ways in late 2013. "It still hasn't really sunk in that he's gone," Hurley added. "It seems too cruel that all the people who loved him will never have another Lion hug, but our