n media titan Ita Buttrose had to be helped from a wheelchair and assisted down church steps as she joined a mix of Sydney’s A-List to farewell her sister-in-law on Tuesday.
Robyn ‘Elizabeth’ Buttrose was remembered at a funeral service at Rose Bay’s St Mary Magdalene Church in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, on what would have been her 79th birthday.
Mourners included Richard Pratt’s long-time mistress Shari-Lea Hitchcock, fashion designer Charlie Brown, Sydney identity Fadi Ibrahim, raconteur Rick Walton, Darrell Lea chocolate heiress Carissa Lea and partner Jamie, and socialite and wife of artist Charles Billich, Christa.
The mother-of-three and grandmother-of-six, who was known by all as ‘Elizabeth’, suffered multiple strokes almost a decade ago that left her with major health problems.
She passed peacefully at an eastern suburbs care facility on Friday, September 20.
Elizabeth was the widow of economist and banker Will Buttrose, mother to fractured siblings Lizzie, Richard and Yvie, and sister-in-law to 82-year-old Ita, veteran journalist and former chair of the ABC.
A diverse crowd of mourners flocked to St Mary Magdalene church in Rose Bay for a Catholic funeral service that saw the warring siblings come together to farewell their late mum.
Buttrose arrived through a back-entrance in a lightweight red wheelchair and sat separate to the congregation in a side room, despite several other guests also arriving in wheelchairs.
Much-loved entertainer Maria Venuti was also spotted in a leopard-skin clad wheelchair alongside her daughter Bianca and young granddaughter Allegra.
Elizabeth was the widow of the late William Buttrose, a high-profile banking figure who held senior roles at Macquarie Bank, Lloyds Bank, and NatWest, and was a respected commentator on Nine’s Today show.
William passed away in 2006 at the age of 62 after a two-year battle with cancer.
The couple, who famously met at a party they both gatecrashed in their 20s, raised three children: Richard, socialite Lizzie, and Evie, a director at law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth.
In a statement to The Daily Telegraph, Ita Buttrose expressed her grief, saying, ‘My sister-in-law endured a long illness and she is now at peace.
‘She was loved by all, and we have wonderful memories from when we were younger.’
The sad news comes after Ita stepped down as chair of the ABC in March after five years in the role.
Her tenure at the ABC was seen as steadying the ship following the sudden departures of her predecessor Justin Milne and managing director Michelle Guthrie.
‘Five years is quite a long time to serve the ABC. I know some chairs have gone on and done a second term, but I’m conscious that I’m a woman of a certain age,’ she told Stellar Magazine in March.
‘Sometimes you need to examine yourself and say, “Well, I am a person of a certain age and everything’s fine, and cognitively I’m good,” but still, weigh it up.
‘Another five years. What would it be like? You have to know in yourself when you need to step aside. I felt that. It had nothing to do with any current events.’