Eastenders and Carry On star Dame Barbara Windsor dies aged 83

She was showbiz royalty – the queen of the Queen Vic. Dame Barbara Windsor began life, a real Eastender – becoming a household name, first with the quintessentially British Carry On comedies then as the hard-nosed pub landlady Peggy Mitchell in the soap Eastenders.

Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2014, with her husband Scot she campaigned tirelessly for better research into the cruel disease. He said even in the weeks before her death,  her humour and fighting spirit never waned.