David Furnish is mourning the death of his father. Sir Elton John's husband took to Instagram to share the upsetting news with his fans, as he paid a touching tribute to his late dad. David shared four pictures – including a throwback photo showing his parents, Jack and Gladys, together - and wrote: "My father passed away peacefully last night at the age of 90.
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"Dad overcame the traumas of his own family being torn apart by both World Wars. He sought solace and comfort in the loving arms of my mother, and built a platform of solid and loving familial stability in which we could all flourish."
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The 58-year-old star continued: "Dad was an old-fashioned conservative, who viewed life through the limited lens he was given from a heavily disrupted upbringing.
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"Like most conservatives, Dad feared what he didn't know. But he never ceased to amaze me with his capacity to learn and grow, as his sons expanded his horizons through our own life experiences. He was present at the birth of both of my sons and full of joy for Elton and me.
David Furnish has announced the death of his father, Jack
"Dad is with Mum now. The place he always wanted to be most. Thank you for all that did for me Dad. You encouraged me to be independent and strong. To believe that I could achieve my goals in life through hard work and kindness. Lessons that I pass on to my own sons every day."
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David was born in Toronto, Ontario, as Gladys and Jack's middle child; he has an older brother John, and a younger brother, Peter. He began his relationship with Elton in 1993, and together they share two sons – Zachary, nine, and Elijah, seven, who were born via the same surrogate.
David and Sir Elton share two sons together
The couple rarely talk about their sons, but in September this year, David publicly defended their surrogate after Australian writer Germaine Greer criticised them for removing her name from their boys' birth certificates.
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Taking to Instagram, he wrote: "Dear Ms Greer, I'll never understand what makes people like you publicly criticise something you clearly know nothing about. Isn’t there enough negativity in the world already?
"The extraordinary woman who carried both our sons is a private person. She's not a publicity seeking person like yourself.
The boys were born via surrogate
"Collectively, we decided to remove the surrogate's name from our son's birth certificate to protect her identity. This turned out to be an extremely wise move, as a journalist managed to illegally acquire a copy of our son's birth certificate from the registry office. A spectacular feat, given we hadn't even received the very first copy ourselves."
The father-of-two concluded his post by writing: "May I respectfully ask you to butt out and mind your own business? This is a private family matter, for which you have no right to publicly level criticism."
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