South Africa buries its greatest son: Military guard escorts Nelson Mandela's casket to state funeral attended by dignitaries and friends including Bill Clinton, Oprah and Prince Charles

Nelson Mandela's flag-draped casket has started its final journey today as a South African military guard of honour escorted his hearse to the state funeral in the remote village where the anti-apartheid icon grew up.
Around 5,000 guests, including the Prince of Wales, Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson and the American civil rights activist Jesse James, at the service in his hometown of Qunu in Eastern Cape province this morning, before a private, smaller burial.
After 10 days of mourning ceremonies, including the massive stadium memorial in Johannesburg and three days of his body laying in state in Pretoria, representatives from the army, navy and air force marched up the dirt road to the Mandela family compound.
Anti-apartheid leader and South Africa's first black President died in his Johannesburg home on December 5, at the age of 95.
The current president of his country, Jacob Zuma told mourners Madiba, as he was adoringly called, was 'a fountain of wisdom, a pillar of strength and a beacon of hope for all those fighting for a just and equitable world order.’
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Final journey: The coffin carrying former South African President Nelson Mandela is escorted into his state funeral service in Qunu this morning

Tradition: Mandela's casket, covered in the nation's flag, was placed on a cattle skin as the service combined elements of traditional and state funerals

Display: The coffin of former South African President Nelson Mandela is seen draped in a South African national flag during his funeral in his ancestral village of Qunu

Respect: Candles are lit under a portrait of Nelson Mandela before his funeral. One for every year of his life

Honor: A gun salute is fired as the funeral procession nears the Mandela family compound

Dignitaries: Prince Charles, right, arrives for the state funeral on Sunday

Historic figure: Thousands of people are paying tribute to South Africa 's first black president

The funeral includes traditions of Mandela's Thembu clan, as well as a 21-gun salute, brass band and fly over by jets. Elders in traditional funeral attire out of respect for Mandela and his family sang old struggle songs as they lined the road to greet the funeral cortege.
An ox was to be slaughtered, the deceased was wrapped in a leopard skin and a family elder continued to talk to the body's spirit throughout the service. The occasion also included elements more often seen in a Christian burial and at a state funeral, including prayers and the national anthem.
The leopard skin signifies Mandela's status as a high-ranking official. Because he was also a former statesman, the casket was covered in the flag.
Following a tradition called Thetha, Xhosa culture requires a family elder to stay with Mandela's body and explain to his spirit what is happening.
'When the body lies there, the spirit is still alive,' the Rev Wesley Mabuza, chairman of South Africa's Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the right of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities, said.
Mandela's widow Graca Machel arrived ahead of the casket to honor the tradition of being home to receive his body.
As the coffin arrived in the white tent for the state funeral, all guests except the family stood, and the choir sung Lizalis' idinga Iakho.
It was placed in the centre of the domed tent, on top of a cattle skin. His widow, Machel, and first wife, Winnie Mandela, then walked into the tent hand in hand. His children from both marriages were sat in the front row, with president Jacob Zuma between them.
Family said they had been reuniting by Machel and Winnie's show of friendship.
A central feature in the tent was a large picture of Mandela, placed behind 95 lit candles, one for each year of his long and full life.
But he left us to 'join the A-team of the ANC,' Kathrada said, as he named those who alongside Mandela had struggled for freedom.
He added: 'It is up to the present generation and generations to come to take up the cudgels when you have left, and take up the challenges South Africa faces today.'
Over the past week it has sometimes seemed that everyone was trying to claim a piece of the great man – and that dignity was sometimes lacking – but he was at last back among his own people. In the little time left before he is committed to the ground today, the elders of his tribe have promised to do things differently.

VIDEO: Military guard of honour escorting Nelson Mandela's coffin

Embrace: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who initially claimed he had not been invited to the funeral, hugs former president Thabo Mbeki

Tribute: A military officer places the framed flag of South Africa on top of Mandela's coffin

Sombre: South Africa's current president Jacob Zuma sitting between Winnie Mandela and Graca Machel

Prayer: A traditional Shembe priest offers prayers as he looks towards the dome where Mandela's funeral was held

State funeral: Mandela's coffin is carried into the white tent for the service

Support: African National Congress supporters chant before the start of the funeral

Dignitaries: Anti-apartheid activist and friend Ahmed Kathrada, right, with former South Africa president Thabo Mbeki

As the state funeral got underway, the national anthem, God Bless Africa, was performed. The anthem is sung in five languages - three African as well as Afrikaans and English.

 

More...

• Desmond Tutu will NOT be going to Nelson Mandela's funeral: Spokesman for retired archbishop says he's not been granted credentials to attend the ceremony
• Mandela Clan outcasts are left off the guest list for funeral because there's no room... but 4,500 VIPs get a pass
• Chaos as Mandela's body lies in state for the final day: 100,000 queue for miles to see him but less than half get near and mourners are injured in crush at gates

Deputy leader of the ANC Cyril Ramaphosa spoke at the funeral, explaining that in accordance with cultural traditions, they planned to lay Mandela to rest at noon 'When the sun is at hits highest and shadows are at its shortest'.
He told the mourners he agreed with president Jacob Zuma, who called Mandela South Africa's greatest son: 'Indeed today, the person who lies here today is South Africa's greatest son.'
Ramaphosa also welcomed royalty and presidents from Africa and around the world, including Prince Charles, and the Prince of Monaco.
When Chief Ngangamhlaba Matanzima, a cousin and spokesman for the Mandela family addressed the service he criticised those who had booed President Zuma during the memorial at the stadium. He added that the fake sign language interpreter had been an embarrassment to the nation.
Wearing a leopard skin to show his status as a chief, Matanzima asked the medical team who cared for Mandela to stand while they were applauded.
The next speaker was Ahmed Kathrada, a friend and anti-apartheid activist who was imprisoned alongside Mandela on Robben Island for more than 20 years.
He spoke fondly of his last meeting with Mandela, and how it brought back memories of when they first met 67 years ago, when he was a 'tall, healthy, strong man. The boxer, the prisoner who easily wielded the pick and shovel ... and vigorously exercised every morning.'

United in grief: Mandela's widow Graca Machel, above, and his former wife Winnie, below, arrived holding hands and sat together for the service

Mourners: US talk show host Oprah Winfrey, centre, her husband Stedman Graham, left, and English businessman Richard Branson, right, watching the funeral service

Traditional: Mandla Mandela right, grandson of former South African president Nelson Mandela, during his grandfather's funeral

His final journey to his farm in the sleepy village of Qunu, his ancestral home in the Transkei region of the Eastern Cape, lasted all day.
'As everyone here would see it, the world's most famous prisoner, this country's first black president, is now home,' BBC correspondent Mike Woolridge tweeted.

Final goodbye: The flag-draped casket of South Africa's first black president arrives in Mandela's village

Coming home: A parade of servicemen lead the casket to the funeral

Home at last: Military officers and Nelson Mandela's grandson Mandla Mandela, rear, accompany the casket of the former South African President as it arrives in Qunu

Journey's end: The hearse carrying the coffin of former South African president Nelson Mandela passes by the tent dome set up in Qunu for his funeral

Tradition: Mandela's grandson Mandla Mandela, right, watches as local chiefs escort the lion skin draped casket of former South African President as it arrives at the Mandela residence in Qunu

Winnie Mandela (left), ex-wife of former South African President, and Graca Macel, widow of Mandela, wipe away tears as his flag-draped coffin arrives at the Mthata airport

In an operation led by the military, the journey began at dawn at Pretoria’s air force base Waterkloof, where 1,000 members of the ANC gave him an exuberant send-off, with singing and dancing beneath a hangar decked out in the party colours of green, black and gold.
Accompanied by family members, tribal elders and senior government figures, the coffin was then flown 550 miles to Mthatha airport, about 20 miles from Qunu.
Mandela’s widow, Graca Machel, and his ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela travelled separately from the coffin, in accordance with tribal tradition, and were seen comforting each other as it arrived.

A military guard of honour stands to attention at the Mandela family's homestead in Qunu. Mandela, the revered icon of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and one of the towering political figures of the 20th century, died in Johannesburg on December 5 at age 95

From the airport, a hearse carried Mandela through the town, where crowds lined the route ten deep, then along Nelson Mandela Road and into the open countryside of green hills and red-flowering Cape Aloe.
There were helicopters, armoured personnel vehicles, expensive cars – which all seemed to have blue lights, whether they contained police officers or not – and an endless stream of motorcycle outriders, some in white uniforms.
Just before 4pm the hearse swept down a gentle slope overlooking a restful scene: the hills and valleys where Mandela roamed as a boy, gathering wild honey, stick-fighting with friends and herding cattle.

 

Nelson Mandela's body heads home to Qunu for funeral

Women hold ANC flags and banners as the long convoy bringing Mandela's body home finally arrives in Qunu. As police and military helicopters buzzed overheard, mourners broke into the South African national anthem as the cortège appeared

A last look at the father of the nation: Locals take photos as Mandela's hearse nears Qunu, a small hamlet in South Africa's Eastern Cape province where he grew up

‘Madiba is coming home,’ is how 13-year-old Siyathemba Nkunzi, watching with his mother, put it.
The crowd linked hands at the sides of the freshly tarmacked road and mouthed goodbyes as the hearse passed by. Some whistled with excitement. But no one cheered, no one screamed.
Farther up the highway a group of children busied themselves slaughtering a sheep. Qunu was celebrating the return of its revered son.
The military here relinquished control of proceedings and the elders took over. Inside Mandela’s peach-coloured farmhouse, a centuries-old ceremony was performed. The most senior elder ‘spoke to the body’ and, to ensure the spirit of the anti-apartheid hero would enter the next world untroubled, apologised for any past disagreements.

Hero: A woman raises her fist in salute as she watches the hearse carrying her country's first black president drive by on the way to his final resting place

Locals cheers as Mandela arrives: Iit was escorted by an enormous convoy of police, military and other vehicles, many flashing emergency lights, arriving at about 4pm local time after going past cheering crowds who had lined the route to pay their respects

Incense was burned and the body was covered in the skin of a cow slaughtered that day. ‘A normal person from his tribe would be covered in a black and white blanket, but the cow skin is reserved for a man of great stature,’ said a villager.
A small branch from an olive tree was kept near the body. It was brought by air from Qunu soon after Mandela died on December 5 at his home in the wealthy Johannesburg suburb of Houghton. It was used by an elder to address his spirit and persuade him to return to Qunu.
Mandela’s house in the village is modest and contains souvenirs of his life since he was freed. Dominating one wall is an outsized portrait of himself and Graca.

Loved by the people: The motorcade transporting Mandela's body passes through crowds of mourners gathered in the town of Mthatha on its way to Qunu

On a bookshelf sits Thomas Macaulay’s History Of England, given to him by Prince Charles, who will be among the 4,500 guests attending today’s funeral, along with Bill and Hillary Clinton, civil rights leader the Reverend Jesse Jackson and Oprah Winfrey.
While Qunu thoroughly approves of the Prince of Wales, politicians – with the exception of Mandela – are not particularly popular among the 500 inhabitants.
It is because of the presence of so many government ministers, diplomats and overseas leaders that many local people have been excluded from attending the funeral.
‘In our culture it is disrespectful for us not to go, but there is nothing we can do about it, and that is very upsetting,’ said Simesihile Sohaye.
It wasn’t just the locals who were left out. Unfathomably, retired archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mandela’s long-time friend and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has not been invited. Some political observers speculated that his criticism of the governing ANC was at the root of the snub.

'Long live the spirit of Nelson Mandela': The crowds chanted old songs and slogans from the anti-apartheid struggle as they watched the body of Mandela roll past

Africa: Young women dance by the roadside in the small village of Queque, near Qunu, as they wait to watch the funeral procession to sweep by

‘Much as I would have loved to attend the service to say a final farewell to someone I loved and treasured, it would have been disrespectful to Tata [Mandela] to gatecrash what was billed as a private funeral,’ said Tutu.
‘Had I or my office been informed I would be welcome there is no way on earth I would have missed it.’
Tutu, 82, said he had cancelled his plans to fly to the Eastern Cape after receiving no indication that his name was on the guest list. In an apparent U-turn last night, president Jacob Zuma’s office insisted Tutu would be allowed to attend.
‘If he had called, we would have given him accreditation. They would never have turned Tutu away. There were no malicious shenanigans,’ said a spokeswoman.
Prince Charles’s place among the mourners, however, is assured. He will be among a group of 430 to actually see Mandela buried in a hillside opposite his home, near the graves of relatives.

Patriotism: Mourners wave and cheer as the hearse transporting the flag-draped casket containing Mandela's body as it passes through the town of Mthatha

High security: Soldiers in full combat gear, male and female, were stationed on foot on either side of the road from the airport in Mthatha

Paying respects: Thousands of mourners line the streets of Umthatha as the enormous convoy of police, military and other vehicles sweeps through their town

‘We are very happy that your future king will be with us,’ said local dignitary Nzg Yorkwana, who runs the Nelson Mandela Museum on the outskirts of Qunu. ‘He is a very dignified man and I am looking forward to meeting him.’
Mandela and the people of this remote region are from the Thembu tribe of the Xhosa ethnic group and have a royal family of their own, of which Mandela was a member.
‘Prince Charles has a great sense of tradition,’ said Ms Yorkwana. ‘I’m sure he will be very interested in the service.’
And unlike certain world leaders, the Queen’s eldest son will, of course, resist the urge to whip out his mobile for a ‘selfie’.

Figurehead: A South African mourner embraces a poster of Mandela, while waiting with other mourners for the motorcade transporting the body of the former president to pass by in the town of Mthatha. Right, Khanyile Diko cheers while wearing a T-shirt depicting the liberation hero as a scarf around his neck

Crowds of mourners cheer as they await the motorcade: Mandela languished in jail for 27 years for his opposition to the racist apartheid regime. Freed in 1990, he emerged to forge a new democratic South Africa by promoting forgiveness and reconciliation

‘That would be unthinkable,’ laughed Ms Yorkwana.
By early evening, mourners were leaving Mandela’s house after a supper and informal speeches of thanks to the doctors who took care of him.
Mandela’s eldest grandson and heir, Mandla, helped staff move huge bouquets of white lilies from the house to the adjoining marquee for the service.
As well as Christian hymns, it will include Xhosa singing and dancing accompanied by the explosive sound of the Igbo drum. Poems about Mandela’s life and achievements will also be read.
‘It will be a very special occasion,’ said 19-year-old Sibabale Ketwa. ‘He was such an inspiration. I am working hard at school and I hope that like him I can leave this area and go on to do great things. Well, maybe not quite as great as him.’

A celebration of life: Mourners sing, wave their national flag and hold up posters of Mandela as they wait for his funeral cortège to appear

Full military honours: Fighter jets escort the military plane carrying the coffin of former South African President Nelson Mandela as it is flown to Mandela's home in the village of Qunu, Eastern Cape

The scariest thing about North Korea's murderous boy tyrant? He's totally sane: He had a girlfriend machine gunned and this week executed his 'human scum' uncle. And no one believes he'll stop there

'Traitor': Kim Jong-un ordered his uncle Jang Song Thaek, pictured with his hands tied with a rope being dragged into court, earlier this week

On Thursday, in a plain courtroom in the centre of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, a 67-year-old man called Jang Song Thaek was sentenced to death as a traitor to his country.
His ‘crime’, according to the special military tribunal of the country’s Ministry of State Security, was to attempt ‘to overthrow the state by all sorts of intrigues and despicable methods with a wild ambition to grab the supreme power’.
In its announcement of the sentence, the North Korean regime did not mince its words. Jang was ‘despicable human scum’, who was ‘worse than a dog’.
Furthermore, he ‘perpetrated thrice-cursed acts of treachery in betrayal of such profound trust and warmest paternal love shown by the Party and the leader for him’.
His supposed crimes against the regime included having ‘improper relations with several women’ and having ‘wined and dined at back parlours of deluxe restaurants’.
In addition, Jang was said to have ‘squandered foreign currency at casinos while he was receiving medical treatment in a foreign country under the care of the party’.
Worst of all perhaps, in the twisted logic of this supposed workers’ paradise, was that Jang was guilty of ‘such factional acts as dreaming different dreams’.
After supposedly admitting to his crimes, Jang was immediately executed, apparently by firing squad — further evidence, said Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokesman, of the ‘extreme brutality of the North Korean regime’. Yesterday, pictures of this broken man being led to his death were beamed around the world, in a rare and graphic display of the workings of this highly secretive nation.
These images followed those showing Jang being dramatically dragged away from a meeting of the ruling Politburo last Sunday, and his subsequent airbrushing from all official photographs.
However, what the regime’s official report fails to mention was that Jang, as well as being one the most senior leaders of the government, was also the uncle of the country’s 30-year-old despot, Kim Jong-un.
This brutal inter-familial conflict marks the culmination of what has been an extraordinary week in North Korea, one which has forced the world once again to ask the questions — how much of a threat to world peace is this rogue state that’s busy creating nuclear weapons, and who exactly is Kim Jong-un?
As the world’s youngest head of state, there is no doubt that he is shaping up to be the very model of a modern dictator.
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News: People watch a TV news program showing Jang Song Thaek before he was sentenced to death

Family: Kim Jong-Un (right) applauds at a show as his uncle, Jang Song-Thaek (left), looks on

The first thing to appreciate about Kim is that he is not mad. He is undoubtedly what psychologists call a ‘rational actor’ — literally meaning that his actions are not irrational at all.
In fact, he is behaving in a way that many people would if they were born into a family that is the subject of an extreme personality cult: his father and grandfather were both long-time leaders of North Korea before him.
Like any Mafia boss or medieval warlord presiding over a crumbling territory, Kim’s first priority is simply to stay in power. And to do that, like any sane man, he is creating the spectres of enemies within — such as his uncle — and enemies without, such as the United States, which he has threatened in recent months with a pre-emptive nuclear strike, a piece of absurd muscle-flexing purely designed to raise his prestige at home.

 

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To deal with the enemies within — regardless of their innocence or guilt — Kim publicly strips them of office, and then has them liquidated and airbrushed from official photographs.
For Kim, the best enemies within to choose to vilify are those closest to him — such as his uncle — because this gives the public the impression that the enemy is very capable and dangerous. And in order to foster a sense of terror, the executions of these ‘enemies’ are often gruesome.
Less than a year after he came to power in December 2011, Kim had his deputy defence minister, Kim Chol, killed by army mortar rounds for disrespecting a period of mourning for his father’s death.

 

North Korea broadcasts pics of Kim Jong Un after uncle's...

Family: Shown with his powerful nephew during a military parade in February last year, Jang Song Thaek (left) was once the second most powerful man in North Korea. Some say he was seen as a threat

The condemned man was told to stand in a deserted spot on an army range where North Korean troops regularly carried out manoeuvres. Mortar shells then zeroed in on him and he was blown to pieces — or ‘obliterated’, as the South Korean media reported it.
Kim Jong-un had ordered that ‘no trace of him, down to his hair’ should remain.
This week, the South Korean government confirmed long-standing rumours that its northern neighbour had publicly machine-gunned members of a female musical group, Unhasu Orchestra — which included his ex-girlfriend — apparently for watching pornography and filming themselves naked. (Intriguingly, Kim’s current wife, whose name is Ri Sol-ju, was a former singer with the group.)
The number of mass public executions have soared — with estimates of between 40 to 80 so far this year in towns across the country, when last year the total was under 20.
It is compulsory for the public to attend these gruesome spectacles — even for children as young as seven.

North Korean justice: The tribunal in the capital Pyongyang which apparently ordered Jang Song Thaek's death

Judges have pronounced sentence for crimes as trivial as owning a Bible, communicating with South Koreans or Christian missionaries, or simply complaining about the hardship of life in a state where millions spend their lives close to starvation.
The prisoners — a rock stuffed in their mouths to prevent them shouting out and ‘defiling the great leader’ — are tied to a post and shot, one by one, by a three-man firing squad. Armed with rifles or machine guns, their killers shoot them so many times their faces are usually unrecognisable. The bodies are thrown into bags and dumped.
As with any ‘offences against the people’, not only are the perpetrators punished but also three generations of their families — with grandparents and children alike ‘disappearing’ into horrifyingly brutal prison camps.
Hundreds of thousands of political prisoners such as these are locked away in a network of North Korean ‘kwan-li-so’, or penal-labour colonies.
Such is the regularity of executions in these godforsaken places that according to one former prisoner, Kang Chol-Hwan, in his book The Aquariums Of Pyongyang, a bulldozer preparing some ground to become a field in his prison camp unearthed masses of body parts. ‘Scraps of human flesh re-emerged from the final resting place,’ he remembers. ‘Arms and legs and feet, some still stockinged, rolled in waves before the bulldozer. I was terrified.’

Allegations: Hyon Song-wol, right, was reportedly put to death by her ex-boyfriend Kim Jong Un, left, on August 30

So punitive is the regime that even when an unfortunate — and almost certainly innocent — victim is shot dead, fellow prisoners are sometimes made to throw rocks at the corpse until its skin comes off as a final insult.
Casual cruelty is also a grim fact of everyday life.
One prisoner who was able to escape and slip into South Korea, Shin Dong-hyuk, recalls the punishment when he accidentally dropped and broke a sewing machine. Without pausing, the chief foreman grabbed his right hand, and with a kitchen knife, hacked off the middle finger. And Mr Shin’s reaction? Gratitude that his entire hand had not been taken.
In some ways, those who die are the lucky ones, and many prisoners do indeed choose suicide as the ultimate means of escape.
Such appalling cruelty is of course beyond the pale, but to Kim it is merely logical if one wants to stay in control of a dysfunctional hell such as North Korea.

Together: Kim Jong Un (front centre) is followed by Jang Song Thaek (left) in December 2011 as he salutes beside the hearse carrying the body of his late father Kim Jong Il during a funeral procession in Pyongyang

The dictator spent much of his teenage years in Switzerland, where he reputedly attended a fee-paying international school near Bern, and spent an inordinate amount of time on his PlayStation video game. According to Kenji Fujimoto — his personal chef who later fled the regime — after Kim returned to North Korea he started to acquire a habit for Johnny Walker whisky and Yves Saint Laurent cigarettes.
Dr Adam Cathcart, a Korea specialist at Leeds University, says that Kim wants his people to believe he is bringing them only some of the desirable aspects of Western culture.
Examples have ranged from his friendship with the eccentrically flamboyant American basketball player Dennis Rodman to his establishing a Viennese-style riding school in Pyongyang.
The oddest Western influence has been his setting up of North Korea’s answer to the Spice Girls. The all-girl act, named the Moranbong Band, consists of five singers (all chosen by Kim) and a backing band.
The performers often wear spangly mini skirts and heels — shunned in North Korea for years as too decadent. Their first concert, in July 2012, saw them joined on stage by performers dressed in Disney character costumes such as Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh, while the band played tunes from Cinderella, and Tom And Jerry.

Summer: Kim Jong Un (right) and his uncle (left), and Choe Ryong Hae, director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army (KPA), attend a ceremony of Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum in Pyongyang in July

‘But they very rapidly turned into this pro-military act with missiles going off in the middle of their performance and songs about the war effort,’ says Dr Cathcart. Behind them, a giant TV screen would show computer-generated footage of a devastating nuclear attack on the U.S., with New York and the White House going up in flames.
‘Every politician relies a bit on theatre, but this is to the nth degree,’ says Dr Cathcart.
In fact, nearly everything about Kim is stage-managed. He likes to characterise himself as far more down-to-earth than his father, appearing on TV chatting to ordinary citizens and soldiers. But such events are carefully choreographed.
‘He prefers to be pictured with children, and then he’ll pull away in his boat and everyone plunges into the water saying “Please don’t leave!” and “Long live Kim Jong-un!”.’
Even his ridiculous hairstyle — reportedly the product of his cutting his own hair because he is scared of barbers — is venerated. In North Korea, it is known as the ‘youth’ or ‘ambition’ haircut.
For some observers, the latest violent events suggest that Kim’s grasp on power is weak, and that he is acting recklessly to secure his position.
But that would be to underestimate the young man whom the North Koreans are made to call the ‘Shining Sun’. For Kim, the step from playing on his PlayStation to dictator has been a short one — and this week he has shown that he plays the game frighteningly well

Anyone seen the mistletoe? Jorgie Porter shows off her slender frame in stylish black evening dress at the Hollyoaks Christmas party

he may well have quit Hollyoaks, but that didn’t stop Jorgie Porter enjoying a night out with her cast-mates on Friday evening.
The 25-year-old actress was attending their annual Christmas party in Liverpool, and she did so in a stunning black dress that showed off her slender frame.
Indeed, Jorgie’s fitted ensemble accentuated her figure as she sashayed into the event alongside a group of pals from the Channel 4 show. 

Stepping out: Jorgie Porter and Anna Shaffer arrive at the Hollyoaks Christmas party in Liverpool

The young star will pull on her skates in January when she makes a return to Dancing on Ice for its all-star finale, and she appeared to be in great physical shape ahead of its gruelling demands.

 

Her sleeveless ensemble was all the more distinctive thanks to the intricate mesh detailing across the waist that conjured images of the famous Versace dress worn by Elizabeth Hurley in 1994.
Jorgie completed her look with a pair of strappy heels, while accessories were reduced to one simple ring and a smart clutch.

A good looking pair: Jorgie and Anna pose for photos

Looking good: Anna Shaffer (L) and Jorgie Porter (R) were in high spirits on Friday evening

Here we go: The Hollyoaks pals make their way into the annual Christmas party

  

Jorgie Porter has recently revealed she will be leaving Hollyoaks next year, so last night was the actress's last Christmas party with the cast, and she's certainly going out with a bang! All we can say is wowza - it's no wonder she's been nominated for Sexiest Female at The British Soap Awards two years in a row!
Just like any Hollyoaks girl worth her salt, the actress pulled out all the stops in a show stopping, attention grabbing outfit. The blonde bombshell chose a mid-length bondage dress with lace up sides, combining it with a messy up do and a smoky eye.
You might have guessed that Jorgie's dress comes from the always super sexy Missguided.co.uk. While we're not sure we'd choose the raunchy number for our office Christmas party, it would make an excellent choice for a night of clubbing over the festive period. Click right to get Jorgie's dress - it's a steal at £14.99!
Alternatively shop our pick of similar styles below. We've included a jaw-dropping Agent Provocateur number that is oh so fifty shades, as well as a more demure ASOS gown- proof that bondage style dresses can look classy!

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The actress was in high spirits as she posed for photos with cast-mate Anna Shaffer, who stood out in a stylish little black dress and matching stiletto shoes.
Jennifer Metcalfe also stood out ahead of the event after arriving in a midnight blue mini-dress that showed off her toned curves.
The actress completed her look with a pair of thick black tights and heels that she put to good use by sashaying inside fort a late night at the festive bash.

Sister act: Screen siblings Gemma Merner and Jennifer Metcalfe look stunning ahead of their appearance at the Hollyoaks Christmas party

Here she is: Jennifer Metcalfe opted for a midnight blue mini-dress for her night out on Friday

Night off: Ashley Taylor Dawson took a break from his Strictly rehearsals for the annual bash

Lucy Dixon proved to be another head turner by opting for a bright red mini-dress and black hatt worn at a raffish angle, while Ashley Taylor Dawson put his Strictly rehearsals to one side of the annual night out.
Jorgie announced in October that she was quitting Hollyoaks after five-years on the show
She told the Daily Star on Sunday: ‘I’ve loved playing Theresa and of course being a McQueen. I’ve been so lucky to have been given some amazing storylines over the last five years.
‘I start to feel a little emotional when I think about leaving but the time is right for me to move on.
‘I’ve still got a while to go yet so there’ll be plenty more mischief from Theresa over the next few months.’

Stunning: Jorgie shows off her slender frame on Friday night

Head turners: Lucy Dixon stood out in red (L) while Stephanie Davis (R) wore a smart black ensemble

Incoming: Stephanie Davis makes their way into the event

She's all white: Gemma Merner arrives in Liverpool on Friday evening in a stylish white dress 

Woman in black: Anna Shaffer wore a smart LBD to the annal event

Quite a threesome: Hollyaoks stars Stephanie Waring, Gemma Merner and Jennifer Metcalfe

He's a man's man': Bruce Jenner's first wife denies rumours he's a cross-dresser… and lashes out at Kris

Bruce Jenner’s first wife has hit out at reports that he’s a cross-dresser and points the finger at his estranged spouse for trying to 'destroy' his life.

Chrystie Scott, who is still in touch with her ex, says that the comments will hurt him and there’s only one person behind the rumours - Kris Jenner.

Speaking exclusively, Chrystie, 63, says: ‘This is a plan by Kris to destroy his life, she's not a pleasant woman... She's out to get him. She doesn't want him to be happy.’

'He's a man's man': Bruce Jenner ex-wife Chrystie Scott has hit out at reports that he's a cross-dresser, pictured in Hollywood in 1988

'Ruining his life': Chrystie claimed Bruce's estranged wife Kris Jenner is 'out to get him', Kris pictured in Beverly Hills on Wednesday

MailOnline has reached out to Kris' representative for comment.
Bruce, 64, has been the subject of cross-dressing rumours after Robert Kardashian’s ex-wife Ellen claimed last year that he’d been doing it for most of his life, and it was tolerated by Kris, 58, and Chrystie.
Ellen claimed last year it was actually Chrystie who told her about it, explaining in an interview: ‘Of course Bruce was every woman’s heartthrob when he was that age, right? But Chrystie said: "Yeah, until I went on a trip and I came back and he had gone through all my clothes. And I found my bras… He’d clip them together and wear them."’

The claim is vehemently denied by Chrystie, who says: ‘There was no suggestion of cross-dressing when I was with him. He's a man's man.’

How it started: Bruce has been the subject of cross-dressing rumours after Robert Kardashian's ex-wife Ellen claimed last year that he'd been doing it for most of his life, pictured in 2012

'It's not true': Chrystie called Bruce a 'man's man' and denied he ever cross-dressed around her, Bruce pictured wearing lipstick and a wig in the upcoming film The Hungover Games

On Thursday, TMZ reported that Bruce met with a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon for a consultation to flatten his Adam’s Apple in a procedure known as chondrolaryngoplasty.

The operation reduces the size of the cartilage in the neck and is typically performed on patients in the initial stages of gender reassignment surgery.
'I just never liked my trachea,' he told the website. He later clarified that his initial reason for seeing the surgeon was due to a 'large scar' on his nose that hadn't healed after a cancerous growth was removed in September.
'Chrystie claims that it was Kris who sent the story out, stating: ‘It’s her putting out all these rumours. I didn’t want to speak to the press, but she’s the one. I’ve said enough already.'

'I never liked my trachea': Bruce is allegedly planning to undergo surgery to reduce the size of his Adam's Apple, pictured in September

'It's her fault': Chrystie claims it was Kris who sent the story out about Bruce's surgery, pictured together in 2012

Chrystie, who then took the surname Crownover, was happily married to Bruce for eight years between 1971 and 1979.
The couple had two children together, Burt, now 35, and Casey, 33, and Chrystie has always stuck up for her ex even though he left her while she was pregnant with Casey for model Linda Thompson, whom he eventually married.

She told People Magazine years later that there was never a custody battle and she has retained her respect for him, before adding: ‘Bruce is a good father, and I want him involved with my kids.’

Laying low: Bruce wore a baseball cap as he popped out for a coffee in Malibu on Friday 

Staying in: The former athlete is currently living in a bachelor pad in Malibu

Chrystie, who is divorced from her second lawyer husband Robert, is still in touch with Bruce and says that being away from Kris is the best thing that can happen for him and the children.

He would be wishing that the story would just die away, according to Chrystie.

She says: ‘I don't speak to him that often, but it's better for everyone, especially the kids, that they're not together and she's out of his life. Hopefully, they'll have more of a chance of leading a normal life out of the spotlight.

‘I can't say anymore, but he’s never been a cross-dresser in all the time I've known him.’

Amicable relationship: Chrystie, who is divorced from her second lawyer husband Robert, is still in touch with Bruce, pictured together in 1977

Former glory: Chrystie was married to Bruce when he won the gold medal for decathlon at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal

Universities cave in over sex segregation after Cameron condemns demands by radical preachers

David Cameron has hit out at universities who segregate men and women during lectures with radical preachers, warning the practise must not be allowed.
The Prime Minister broke his silence on the controversial policy of seating men and women separately during lectures from Muslim and other ultra-orthodox scholars.
Universities last night caved in after Mr Cameron intervened to warn them it was unacceptable.
The Prime Minister told Sky News: 'I’m absolutely clear that there should not be segregated audiences for visiting speakers to universities in Britain.
‘That is not the right approach. The guidance should not say that, universities should not allow this. I’m very clear about this.’

Anger: Protesters hold up placards rejecting 'gender apartheid' outside the headquarters of Universities Uk in London last night after their guidelines agreed that women and men can be segregated

Mr Cameron’s intervention came after Education Secretary Michael Gove told the Mail that he believed universities were guilty of ‘pandering to extremism’.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the Prime Minister also felt ‘very strongly’ about segregation: ‘He does not believe that guest speakers should be allowed to address segregated audiences, so he believes that Universities UK should urgently review its guidance.’
He added that with segregation came possible ‘risks of discrimination’. ‘There is an important principle here around free speech. There is a long tradition of that in our educational establishments and he (the Prime Minister) thinks that is a very important tradition.’
Universities UK, which represents higher education institutions, buckled under the pressure and last night scrapped its original guidance.
It also asked for more clarity from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission [ECHR] over segregation by gender on campus.

Anger: The segregation by sex at university talks by visiting speakers has been called discrimination and those concerned say decision will take Britain backwards

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of Universities UK, said: ‘Universities UK agrees entirely with the Prime Minister that universities should not enforce gender segregation on audiences at the request of guest speakers. However, where the gender segregation is voluntary, the law is unclear. We are working with our lawyers and the EHRC to clarify the position.’
But EHRC chief executive Mark Hammond said it is not ‘permissible’ under the law for universities to segregate by gender in academic meetings that were open to the public.
‘Clearly, a university like any other institution is entitled to provide services and facilities separately by gender where appropriate and lawful - for example, accommodation, sports and targeted welfare provision,’ said Mr Hammond.
‘It is also entirely permissible for a university or other organisation to have private members’ clubs for a single sex.
‘Universities can also provide facilities for religious meetings and associations based on faith, as in the rest of society. Equality law permits gender segregation in premises that are permanently or temporarily being used for the purposes of an organised religion where its doctrines require it.
‘However, in an academic meeting or in a lecture open to the public it is not, in the Commission’s view, permissible to segregate by gender.’

Action: University College London has banned one Muslim group after it found one group had demanded gender segregation

Critics said the confusing guidelines had led to ‘sexual apartheid’ and 9000 people have signed a petition condemning separation of the sexes in lecture halls.
Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said he was ‘horrified’ and warned a future Labour government would not allow or tolerate segregation in universities.
Mr Gove told the Daily Mail this week that the guidance should be withdrawn immediately: ‘We should not pander to extremism. Speakers who insist on segregating audiences should not be indulged by educators. This guidance is wrong and harmful. It should be withdrawn immediately.’
The argument hinges on a hypothetical case study included in the guidance which was published last month.
The case study involves an external speaker invited to talk about his orthodox religious faith who subsequently requests segregated seating areas for men and women.
University College London hit the headlines in March after a Muslim organisation hosted a debate in which the audience was split into male only, female only and mixed seating.
And a lecture at Leicester University in April hosted by the university’s Islamic Society also displayed signage indicating where ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’ should sit separately.
Research by Student Rights, a group which aims to prevent extremism at universities, said that over the year to March 2013, 46 events at 21 separate institutions were found to have either explicitly promoted segregation by gender or implied that this would be the case.
Six of these were cancelled before they took place, however, the group said.

Greek Islamic convert Hamza Andreas Tzortzis was a speaker at the debate at UCL, his spokesman said earlier this year that segregation was informal