Shane MacGowan’s widow pays heartfelt tribute to him on his 66th birthday – and breaks her silence on Wham! by beating his band The Pogues to Christmas Number One

Shane MacGowan’s widow Victoria Mary Clarke has paid a heartfelt tribute to the singer on Christmas Day, which was also his 66th birthday – following the singer’s death on November 30.

The journalist, 58, posted a sweet photo of the couple on Instagram and said the holidays had been much harder than she expected.

The Pogues frontman Shane was battling viral encephalitis and was released from hospital in Dublin surrounded by his family shortly before he passed away.

Victoria, who has been in a relationship with Shane since she was 16, captioned the post: “Today is really hard, much harder than I expected. “I just can’t stop crying and I want to be with him so bad it physically hurts.”

“I don’t know how people get through this, but I know they do and people feel joy even after losing their person.”

Victoria, who has been in a relationship with Shane since she was 16, captioned the post: “Today is really hard, much harder than I expected. “I just can’t stop crying and I want to be with him so bad it physically hurts.”

The journalist took to Instagram to share a sweet photo of the couple and said the festive period had been much harder than she expected

Adding: ‘Shane always said that even though he was born on Christmas Day, he was much more focused on Jesus’ birthday and he felt that was the most important thing about Christmas, so I ask Jesus and the angels to help me Today’.

Victoria also broke her silence on Wham!’s Last Christmas, beating The Pogues’ 1987 hit The Fairytale of New York to Christmas number one, despite a gathering of fans.

She took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and wrote: ‘I love Wham!!! We loved George.

And although the hit lost the top spot, the record made Shane a small fortune during his lifetime.

And now it is reported that the star is estimated to have left behind a fortune of £4.3million.

The mirror reported that the singer raked in between £216,000 and £260,000 a year in royalties for the festive 1988 classic, which also featured the late Kirsty MacColl.

MailOnline has contacted Shane’s representatives for comment.

The musician died ‘peacefully’ with his wife Victoria and family by his side.

Pogues frontman Shane battled viral encephalitis and was released from hospital in Dublin surrounded by his family shortly before he died (pictured together in 2022)

Victoria also broke her silence on Wham!’s Last Christmas by beating The Pogues’ Fairytale of New York to Christmas number one despite a gathering of fans (Shane pictured with Kirsty MacColl in the video)

Wham reached number one with the song Last Christmas, despite its release in 1984

She took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and wrote: ‘I love Wham!!! We loved George’

Appearing on Woman’s Hour, Victoria opened up about their nearly four decades together and said she “communicated with angels” to help her cope with the loss.

The Irish journalist told Radio 4’s Anita Rani that she was left ‘shaky and dazed’ after the adrenaline of organizing her husband’s funeral, and also told how his long battle with drink and drugs left her fearful throughout their relationship that he could overdose, have an accident, or die.

Victoria joked that it was like having a “four-year-old with a credit card and a car,” and said life with the singer was “dramatic, like being in a soap opera, but with the volume turned up.” It was really intense.’

She continued, “I always wondered, is he going to overdose? Will he be arrested? Will he have a nasty accident? Will he die?’

The writer also opened up about her own struggles, saying she sometimes went ‘through hell’, wanted to kill herself and ended up in the Priory after taking drugs, including heroin.

Appearing on Woman’s Hour, Victoria opened up about their nearly forty years together and said she ‘communicated with angels’ to help her cope with the loss (pictured in 2007)

Victoria opened up about the early days of their romance, including how she fell for the singer in her teens, saying the ‘unusual looking’ star had a ‘Jimi Hendrix attitude’ and that his first line to her was: ‘Buy a drink for my friend, it’s his birthday’.

Speaking about the loss, she said: ‘Shane is still very much with me, I really feel him, I feel a real, genuine connection.’

Victoria told Rani that she has had therapy and support throughout her life, turning to Buddhist meditation, yoga and the technique of channeling to help her cope with the pain of MacGowan’s death, saying: ‘I have to let my angels know give honor. I spend a lot of time meditating and communicating with angels.’