Patricia Routledge, Keeping Up Appearances star, dies at 96
PATIENCE MUSA
A hush has fallen over living rooms across Zimbabwe and beyond following the passing of Dame Patricia Routledge, the actress forever remembered as Mrs. Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced “Bouquet”) in the much-loved BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances.
She died on 3 October 2025, aged 96, peacefully in her sleep, surrounded by love.
For a generation of Zimbabweans who grew up in the 1990s, the weekly dose of Keeping Up Appearances on ZTV was more than just television.
It was ritual. From the moment Mrs. Bucket lifted her telephone to call her next “candlelight supper,” to her dramatic declarations of “It’s pronounced ‘Bouquet’, dear!”, we laughed. We cringed. We rooted for her in her own peculiar way.
The show ran from 1990 to 1995 and became a global cult favourite, drawing millions of viewers across the world.
Though she played Hyacinth — the snobbish, socially ambitious housewife — Patricia Routledge’s own career spanned decades on stage and screen. She won awards such as the Tony for Darling of the Day in 1968 and an Olivier Award for Candide, among others.
In Zimbabwe, just like in many former British colonies, we embraced British sitcoms as part of our shared cultural memory.
Mrs. Bucket was, in many ways, universal: the desire to appear respectable, the petty rivalries, the fear of embarrassment, the longing for social acceptance. She exaggerated these things to comic extremes, but many of us recognised bits of ourselves — or of our neighbours. That made her humour gentle but sharp.
In recent years, social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok have revived interest in Keeping Up Appearances.
Clips of Mrs. Bucket demanding her “white slimline telephone” or chasing off her own family have resurfaced everywhere — shared, laughed at, remixed, and rediscovered by a new generation. She’s come back to remind us what humour used to feel like.
Though she retired from acting in the mid-90s, Patricia Routledge’s influence never waned. Even well into her 90s, she was remembered, quoted, admired, and loved.
Her agent’s statement said she “died peacefully in her sleep this morning surrounded by love.” She leaves behind laughter, warmth, and the standard she set — comic timing, charm, and the ability to make us laugh at ourselves without malice.
Zimbabweans will likely spend some evenings revisiting old episodes, quoting Hyacinth’s misadventures, calling her Mrs. Bucket while pronouncing “Bouquet” just like she would.
As a nation that once gathered around ZTV and laughed together, we say thank you. Thank you for the pearls, the candles, the delicate pronunciation of “Bouquet.” Thank you for showing us that the small vanities and little hypocrisies of life can be funny, human, and kind.
In those days, sitcoms like Keeping Up Appearances were funny without being sexual, funny without being political — just funny because people are people.
Will we ever get shows like that again?
Will we ever see television in Zimbabwe, or anywhere, that is purely joyful — full of everyday absurdities, social quirks, and characters we might recognise — but with no harsh edge, no agenda, just laughter?
Farewell, Patricia Routledge. Farewell, Mrs. Bucket. You kept up appearances so beautifully.
