The King has led tributes to comedian Barry Humphries in a state memorial service at the Sydney Opera House.

Arts Minister Tony Burke read out the message from the King, which said His Majesty was deeply saddened by Barry Humphries’ passing.

“It almost sounds like a line from a show to say I have a message from the palace – but I do, in fact, have a message from the palace,” Burke began.

The King’s message began with a note that anyone who had “appeared on stage or on TV with Barry’s Dame Edna, or who found her appearing at the back of the royal box, will have shared that unique sensation where fear and fun combined”.

“Those who tried to stand on their dignity soon lost their footing. Those who wondered whether Australia’s housewife superstar might this time just go too far were always proved right. No one was safe.”

But the King also noted that Humphries “poked and prodded us, exposed to tensions, punctured pomposity … but most of all made us
laugh at ourselves.

“Like so many, I have been deeply saddened by his passing. Life really won’t be the same without him. May our gladioli bloom in celebration of his memory.”

The message was received with sustained applause, and followed by a video tribute from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. He said Humphries was a “comedic giant”.

“Australia has long benefited from an … example of the duality of power, Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. Two halves of the one extraordinary whole,” he said.

“No matter how unruly his creations became, it was Barry who had the final word. And what a word it was; Barry had the ultimate power, a power he exercised with the glee that never knew any bounds.”

Sir Elton John, Rupert Murdoch, Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Walliams and Bruce Beresford were also among those to offer tributes on Friday.

“He was a raconteur of incredible, incredible importance and genius, it’s sad that we won’t be seeing him again, but we have so many memories of him,” Sir Elton said.

Film director Bruce Beresford told stories of making his first feature, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, with Humphries and how in the early 1970s his friend struggled with alcoholism.

On one occasion Humphries ran from the pub to make it onstage after interval, said Beresford.

“He dashed into the wings and then onto the stage, the only problem was it was in the wrong theatre, in the wrong play.”

Humphries, best known for his alter egos Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, died in Sydney on April 22 at the age of 89 following complications from surgery.

His death sparked an outpouring of tributes for the treasured national icon at home and abroad.

Humphries, who lived in London for decades, returned to Sydney in December 2022, where he suffered a fall requiring a hip replacement. He died in St Vincent’s Hospital as a result of complications following the operation.

Humphries delighted and outraged audiences for more than half a century with his cavalcade of grotesques, presented in a unique blend of old-style music hall and contemporary satire.

Among them were the gross Sir Les Patterson, Australia’s “cultural attache to the Court of St James”, the melancholy and rambling Sandy Stone and, in comic strip and film, the chundering “Ocker in Pommyland”, Barry McKenzie.

Bazza was a boozy parody of the ugly Australian abroad, full of phrases like the “technicolour yawn”, “siphon the python” and “the one-eyed trouser snake”.

Dame Edna picked out “possums” from her audience and made them squirm, her appearances ending with a blizzard of “gladdies”. She was a huge critical and popular success.

Humphries continued touring up until the last year of his life and was “an entertainer to his core” who brought laughter to millions.

John Barry Humphries was born on February 17, 1934.

Friday’s two-hour memorial at the Sydney Opera House was co-hosted by the Australian and NSW governments and was broadcast live on ABC TV.

-with AAP