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Lady Pat Routledge, who has died at the age of 96, imprinted herself on the national consciousness as the snobby Mrs. Bouquet.

Insisting it was "said Bouquet," Hyacinth ran roughshod over her long-suffering husband and bewildered neighbours in Keeping Up Appearances, one of Britain's most successful comedies in the 1990s.

Behaving like a duchess while residing in a suburban area, Hyacinth's monstrous status-seeking schemes were in the end destined to failure—while she struggled to keep her dignity.

It was Dame Patricia's most famous part in a professional life that included her earn stage awards on each side of the ocean, become the lead of Alan Bennett's famous TV monologues, and star as BBC1's investigative Mrs. Wainthropp.

Early Life and Start in Acting

Catherine Patricia Routledge was delivered in Birkenhead on 17 February 1929.

Her dad was a haberdasher and she later recalled taking cover from German bombs in the basement of his shop during the Second World War.

She studied literature at nearby Liverpool University and planned to become a teacher. Instead, she joined the Liverpool Playhouse before studying at the Bristol Old Vic.

Her successful acting career brought her from the provinces to the West End, and eventually to New York, where Leonard Bernstein chose her to star in his musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in 1976.

She had previously won a Tony award for her acting in Darling of the Day.

She could transition effortlessly from lighthearted plays to serious drama.

She went from Shakespeare's birthplace, appearing with the Royal Shakespeare Company and later to the National Theatre in the capital.

There, her starring part in the theatre production Carousel involved her singing the rousing You'll Never Walk Alone.

She also took various minor film roles, especially in 1967's To Sir, With Love, and the comedian's comedy outing Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River.

Her theatre and broadcast performances proved her versatility and won her awards, but it was the small screen that provided Routledge with her most high profile roles.

Television Breakthrough and Iconic Characters

Early small-screen work featured popular programmes like Z Cars and Steptoe and Son.

And later, one of Britain's most respected writers, Alan Bennett, penned a set of outstanding Talking Heads TV solos for her.

Routledge overcame her early hesitation to perform his material and shone as A Woman of No Importance and A Lady of Letters.

She went onto play a lonely, mid-life shop clerk drawn into a relationship with a kinky foot doctor in Bennett's Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet.

A humorous turn as the larger-than-life Kitty on The Victoria Wood Show resulted in the creation of Mrs. Bucket.

Routledge recalled being sent the episodes by the author, Roy Clarke—who had also done Last of the Summer Wine and Open All Hours.

"I had opened the script for a moment at one o'clock in the morning," she said, "I went straight through and the character leapt off the page. I knew that lady, I'd met several of that woman."

Keeping Up Appearances aired for five seasons and featured four Christmas episodes.

In a film, she stated that fans had numbered Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and Pope Benedict XVI.

It turned into BBC Worldwide's most-sold show of all time and meant Routledge was recognised as far away as Botswana.

For her performance on the comedy, she was chosen Britain's all-time favourite actor in 1996, but following half a decade in the part, she felt it was time for a change.

"I brought it to an end," she said, "which, naturally, the BBC didn’t care for at all."

She believed that Roy Clarke was beginning to repeat concepts and recalled a piece of guidance from the comedian, Ronnie Barker.

"He always left with audiences saying, ‘Oh, won't you do any more?’ she said, rather than fans saying, ‘Is that still running?’"

Later Roles and Private Reflections

Playing the unassuming but astute detective in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates gave her continued success on TV, but she consistently called the theatre as "the test."

Years after she ceased appearing frequently on screen, Routledge undertook theatre tours equally in the United Kingdom and abroad.

Whenever interviewers posed the inevitable question, she asked them to write the word withdrawal because, she explained: "It isn't in my lexicon."

She did not married or raised kids, but informed interviewers of two significant romances in her youth, including one with a wedded man.

"I experienced guilt and an acute sense that there had to be pain," she admitted. "I guess I persuaded myself that it was acceptable for the time being because his marriage was not a vibrant thing."

Instead, she devoted herself to her art, honoring it with the talent, dedication and devotion that were always admired by her colleagues.

She was critical about the broadcaster's decision in 2016 to bring back Keeping Up Appearances, but on this occasion placed in the 1950s and featuring a more youthful version of her role.

Challenging the network's policy of resurrecting old comedies she said, "For what reason are they attempting this kind of thing, they have to be out of ideas."

She had previously disagreed with the BBC over their move not to order a film she had written about the writer the children's author (Routledge was a Patron of the literary group), which eventually aired on Channel 4.

On turning 90, she persisted to reside peacefully in the city, where she occupied herself collecting money for the cathedral roof.

In 2017, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the British honors system but—in contrast to Hyacinth—honors never go to her mind.

Dame Patricia always said she credited her north of England upbringing and stable family for giving her practicality with her life and her money.

Nonetheless, she confessed that, if any extra cash come her way, she'd certainly use it on "a case of sparkling wine"—an appreciation of the finer pleasures in existence that she shared with her most famous character.

"I never was theatre-obsessed," she declared. "I am not stage-struck now. No one is as amazed than myself that I've, in fact, devoted my life pursuing acting."