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Explorer Worsley's ashes to be buried by his hero Shackleton

The widow of explorer Henry Worsley plans to take his ashes back to the edge of Antarctica so he can be buried beside his hero Ernest Shackleton.

Next week will mark a year since the 55-year-old died while trying to become the first person to travel across Antarctica unaided.

In her first television interview since her husband's death, Joanna Worsley told Sky News that the idea of taking his ashes to South Georgia, the gateway to Antarctica, made her and her children smile.

She said: "He had a very romantic idea of the past, particularly the polar explorers. For him it wasn't just doing a thousand miles for the sake of doing a thousand miles - he had to do it to follow in somebody's footsteps."

The family will travel to South Georgia to bury Mr Worsley's ashes.

Mr Worsley was a former SAS officer and had already completed two expeditions to Antarctica.

During his final expedition he was aiming to cover 1,100 miles in 75 days with no support. But 30 miles from completing the challenge he fell ill, had to be airlifted to hospital and later died.

Recalling those final days of Mr Worsley's expedition last January, Mrs Worsley said: "Because you now have satellite phones he was calling me twice a day in the last week and I heard in his voice that it was really very bad.

"I knew it was very bad and I couldn't really do anything about it. I don't think for a minute he knew he was as ill as he was because he could have pulled out and he did pull out in the end.

"He decided that he couldn't carry on anymore, so he certainly didn't want to die out there."

Mr Worsley's final expedition raised over half a million pounds for the Endeavour Fund, a charity set up by Prince William and Prince Harry. In the past year, it has helped dozens of injured service personnel take on their own personal challenges.

On Tuesday night Mrs Worsley and her children Max and Alicia joined the princes to present prizes at the inaugural Endeavour fund awards.

In a speech Prince William said: "The best way that we can thank Henry, the best way we can honour his memory is to create a legacy.

"The award of a prize in his name, is but a small part of this legacy, a gesture offered to show how much Henry meant to us.

"A much more significant and meaningful legacy can be fulfilled by you, the community for whom Henry sacrificed so much."