Caroline Aherne ‘achieved everything she could have wanted’ and was ‘laughing with pals over coffee’ days before she died

CAROLINE Aherne “achieved everything she could have wanted” and was laughing with pals just days before her death, a close friend of the actress has said.

The Royle Family star, who died Saturday at age 52 after a long battle with lung cancer, never lost her sense of humour, says her screenwriter pal Carmel Morgan.

Carmel, who met Caroline over two decades ago while working as a press officer at Grenada TV, paid tribute to the comedy legend in an emotional interview with the .

She revealed: “I last saw [Caroline] about 10 days ago. We went to Costa in Timperley with her best friend Cal, we had such a laugh. She puts on a brave front but you could tell she was ill.

“She never lost her sense of humour though, she was always laughing and joking.”

Carmel, who has several writing credits on The Royle Family, also hailed Caroline as a pioneer, describing her battle to get the boundary-pushing comedy on the air — paving the way for shows like The Office to be made.

She said it was difficult to pick a favourite memory of Caroline as she had so many, but did relate one anecdote from the filming of The Royle Family.

She said: “[Caroline] was just lying on the floor trying to think of dialogue and she just came out with a line that Norma would say about her doctor to one of Anthony’s friends: ‘Do you know what he said to me? Even though I’m taking the cataract out of your eye, I’m leaving the twinkle in. To me that just sums up her talent.”

Caroline died alone at her home in Timperley, two months after telling her closest friends that her illness was terminal.

One friend said recently she kept smiling till the end.

The pal said: “She was amazingly resilient and didn’t even cry as she told us she only had a matter of weeks to live.

“She knew what was coming. But while others closest to her were in pieces, Caroline smiled and was so strong.”