Dame Barbara Windsor, best known for her roles in Eastenders & Carry on, has died peacefully at a care home aged 83 following a long battle with dementia.

Barbara’s journey from saucy minx in the Carry On films to the matriarch of the Queen Vic in EastEnders made her a national treasure.

‘WE LOST A LEGEND’ 

Barbara’s heartbroken husband Scott Mitchell has led the tributes this morning to the iconic actress who ‘brought light to our lives’

She died at 8.35pm on Thursday at a London care home after battling dementia, Mr Mitchell said.

“Myself, her family and friends will remember Barbara with love, a smile and affection for the many years of her love, fun, friendship and brightness she brought to all our lives and the entertainment she gave to so many thousands of others during her career,” he said.

“Barbara’s final weeks were typical of how she lived her life. Full of humour, drama and a fighting spirit until the end.

“It was not the ending that Barbara or anyone else living with this very cruel disease deserves.”

“I will always be immensely proud of Barbara’s courage, dignity and generosity dealing with her own illness and still trying to help others by raising awareness for as long as she could.”

A representative for actor Steve McFadden, who plays Dame Barbara’s on-screen son Phil Mitchell, said he was “devastated” by her death.

The Mitchells have been crucial to EastEnders’ success and longevity and viewers were for years gripped by the drama surrounding the family.

Danniella Westbrook, 47, who played Peggy’s daughter Sam, wrote on Twitter: “Today we lost a legend a national treasure and a woman who I looked up to for most of my life.”

Dame Barbara was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2014, before making it public in 2018.

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