Two months ago, the families of Ben and Catherine Mullany gathered to see them marry in their local parish church. Yesterday they were joined by around 900 mourners, including the Duchess of York and Neath MP Peter Hain, to pay their last respects.

Lauren Turner and Rhiannon Beacham

Two months ago, the families of Ben and Catherine Mullany gathered to see them marry in their local parish church.

Yesterday they were joined by around 900 mourners, including the Duchess of York and Neath MP Peter Hain, to pay their last respects after the newlyweds were shot on the final day of their honeymoon at the Cocos Hotel and Resort in Antigua.

Mrs Mullany, 31, a doctor, died instantly in what is believed to have been a botched robbery.

Her husband, a trainee physiotherapist who was also 31, died in hospital in Wales after being flown home while in a coma.

They were buried last month in a private ceremony at St John the Evangelist Church in Cilybebyll, South Wales, where they married.

Yesterday's funeral service at Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff, was led by Dr Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales, and the Rev Martyn Perry, Rector of Cilybebyll, who married the couple.

The hour-long memorial service began with Mr and Mrs Mullany's mothers lighting two large white candles in their memory in front of a large photograph of the couple.

Tributes were given by the couple's brothers and a message of support from former cricketer Sir Viv Richards was read out, on behalf of the people of Antigua.

The Duchess of York, who read WB Yeats's He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven, praised the courage of Mr and Mrs Mullany's parents.

She met Mrs Mullany's brother Richard on a flight to Antigua after the July 27 shootings, and said she had been "touched" by their deaths.

Mr Mullany's brother Adam told mourners Ben had been his "hero and idol" and that he would endeavour to follow in his footsteps.

He described him as a strong, determined person who enjoyed life, and raised smiles when he recounted how Mr Mullany tried to impress his wife-to-be with his dance moves the first time they met.

More laughs were heard when a friend, named only as Keith, told the congregation that although Mr Mullany could run faster and jump higher than him, "at least he was ginger".

He said Mr Mullany was a cross between Judith Chalmers, George Clooney and a boomerang - explaining that he loved travel and was popular with women, but had come home and fallen in love with someone from just two miles away.

Catherine's brother Richard Bowen, who had read a Welsh love poem at the couple's wedding, recalled their childhood together and how they had adventures as "the only members of a secret club".

He said he first noticed his sister's compassion when he went over the handlebars of his bike into a bramble bush and the only way she could think of to make him feel better was doing the same thing herself.

The archbishop told the congregation: "Today's service is an attempt to express the full range of what we feel, of thanksgiving for lives that were so full of promise and vitality and energy and charm, and yet terrible sadness and at times anger that they have been cut down on the threshold of so much hope."

Dr Morgan said "the world is full of chance and accidents", and that tragedies like the deaths of the Mullanys were also a "disaster" for God.

He added: "If we find what happened to Ben and Catherine in Antigua shocking, why should we think God does not?"

The message from Sir Viv, sports and tourism ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda, was delivered by Mr Perry, and read: "On behalf of the people of Antigua, I would like to offer our heartfelt condolences to the families of Cath and Ben.

"As many of you will know, I spent many years playing cricket for Glamorgan and have a strong affinity with Wales and the Welsh people.

"I am honoured to support the Mullany Fund, set up to help train new doctors and physiotherapists and keep the dreams of Cath and Ben alive."

After the service, the duchess and Adam Mullany left the cathedral holding the blown-up photograph of the couple, which had been displayed on an easel during the service.

Looking close to tears, the duchess said: "It was very moving."

When asked how he was coping, Adam Mullany said: "As you'd expect. We'll get through with the support of everybody, family and friends, and the duchess as well."

He said the Mullany Fund was "very important" to the family. "By keeping this fund going, it's like they're still here," he said.

The duchess paid tribute to the families of the Mullanys, saying: "They are so strong, with such a great hole in their hearts. But they are so united as a family, and I think they just deal with it day by day, going forwards."

Two men, 20-year-old Kaniel Martin and 17-year old Avie Howell, are in custody in Antigua charged with the couple's murder.