Actress Dame Patricia Routledge, known for playing Hyacinth Bucket in classic TV sitcom Keeping Up Appearances, has died at the age of 96.

She also starred in Alan Bennett's TV monologues and played BBC One's amateur sleuth Hetty Wainthropp, while also enjoying an acclaimed stage career.

Her agent told the PA news agency on Friday that she died "peacefully in her sleep this morning surrounded by love".

The BBC's director of comedy was among those paying tribute, saying she "made millions laugh and left a legacy that will always be remembered with gratitude and admiration".

Her agent's statement said: "Even at 96-years old, Dame Patricia's passion for her work and for connecting with live audiences never waned, just as new generations of audiences have continued to find her through her beloved television roles.

"She will be dearly missed by those closest to her and by her devoted admirers around the world."

Dame Patricia was best known as Hyacinth Bucket - pronounced "bouquet" - a comic creation who lampooned the extremes of English pretension and snobbery.

"She's an absolute monster and I enjoyed playing her enormously," the actress once said.

Keeping Up Appearances ran from 1990 to 95, and the following year she was voted the nation's most popular actress at the BBC's 60th anniversary awards.

'Loved around the world'
Jon Petrie, the BBC's director of comedy, said he was "so sad" to hear of her death.

"She was an actor of remarkable range, but her portrayal of Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances has to be one of the most iconic performances in British comedy," he said.

"She took a character on the page and gave her such truth, precision and warmth that Hyacinth became part of the national conversation; instantly recognisable, endlessly quotable, and loved around the world.

"Whatever she did, she brought impeccable craft, and in doing so inspired generations of writers, performers and audiences."

The Birkenhead-born star was celebrated for her performances on stage as well as screen after starting her career in the theatre in the 1950s.

Following roles in London's West End, she established herself in the US when she won the Tony Award for best lead actress in a musical on Broadway in New York for Darling of the Day in 1968.

She was as adept at serious drama as she was at musicals and comedy - she appeared in Richard III and Henry V for the Royal Shakepseare Company, then won an Olivier Award for best actress in a musical for Candide in the 1980s.

The 80s also saw her become a true national TV star - playing Kitty in Victoria Wood's As Seen on TV, and delivering three of Bennett's renowned Talking Heads monologues, including 1988's A Lady of Letters, for which she received a Bafta Award nomination.

She earned two further Bafta nominations, for Keeping Up Appearances, in 1992 and 93, then starred in the title role as a retired woman on a quest to solve crimes in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates between 1996 and 98.

Broadcaster Gyles Brandreth, a friend, told BBC Radio 4's The World At One she was "an extraordinary person", adding: "I think she was a remarkable actress because she was a remarkable human being."

She was "a very decent, strong, independent, intelligent person and a mistress of her craft", he said.

He recalled falling in love with her when he saw her on stage in a Noel Coward compilation in the 1970s. "Noel Coward admired her. Everybody admired her," Brandreth said.

"Alan Bennett loved writing for her. She was one of Victoria Wood's favourite human beings. What's interesting, of course, is she entered the national consciousness as Hyacinth Bucket. She epitomised that character, but her versatility was extraordinary."

Actress Kerry Howard, who played the young Hyacinth Bucket in a one-off BBC prequel, said Dame Patricia would be "remembered forever".

"She was a monolithic talent who became a comic beacon to me," Howard said. "I would watch her every week as Hyacinth and then spend the rest of the week pretending to be her.

"She was my first drama teacher - although we never ever actually met, she has informed so much of my comedic sensibilities.

"A wonderful clown has left this world, but I'd like to think her energy and gifts go beyond the grave."

'A supreme actress'
The actress appeared numerous times at Chichester Festival Theatre near her home in West Sussex, and the venue's artistic director Justin Audibert and executive director Kathy Bourne paid tribute to her as "irreplaceable, inimitable and unforgettable".

"Patricia Routledge was a supreme actress. Her talents were particularly associated with comedy, though her range was far greater than that," they said in a statement.

"She was not only a national treasure, she was a Chichester treasure too - a stalwart supporter of the city and community, and of the Festival Theatre whose stage she graced for five decades."

She was made an OBE in 1993, a CBE in 2004, and a dame in 2017.