Professor Stephen Hawking memorial service ballot opens to the public

The ashes of the physicist, who died on 14 March at the age of 76, will be interred at Westminster Abbey between the graves of Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.

The service will take place at the Abbey on 15 June and Prof Hawking's three children are offering up to 1,000 free tickets to the public through the ballot system, run by the Stephen Hawking Foundation.

Lucy Hawking said: "We are so grateful to Westminster Abbey for offering us the privilege of a service of thanksgiving for the extraordinary life of our father and for giving him such a distinguished final resting place.

"We are also very pleased to be able to offer tickets to the public so that our father's many admirers will have the chance to join in the service."Diagnosed with motor neurone disease in his 20s, for much of his time in the public eye his illness confined him to a wheelchair and, from 1985, he communicated through a computer.

Source: NEWSSKY