It was the sort of scene that would probably have elicited one of the late sports columnist Rebecca Wilson's famous eye-rolls.
But old rivalries were put aside as a collection of some of the most influential figures from the Australian media, political and sporting landscapes converged on St Andrew's Cathedral to bid the popular Daily Telegraph sports journalist farewell.
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Emotional farewell for Rebecca Wilson
Friends, family and fans fill Sydney's St Andrew's Anglican Cathedral for a celebration of the trail-blazing sports journalist. Vision courtesy: Network Ten
Indeed, she deserved no less.
The funeral came a week to the day since Wilson lost her long and very private battle with breast cancer, a disease she had before and which had returned with a vengeance in recent months.
Hundreds of mourners filled the cathedral for the service, reflecting the diverse circles she had traversed from NSW Premier Mike Baird to Colin Fassnidge, the former chef from her favourite local, Paddington's Four In Hand.
Also present were broadcaster Alan Jones, NSW Sports Minister Stuart Ayres, federal Defence Minister Marise Payne, Titans rugby league club boss Graham Annesley, former rugby league footballers Mark Carroll, Laurie Daley and Anthony Minichiello, a host of News Corp journalists and editors, Channel Seven political reporter Mark Riley, Fairfax Media's Kate McClymont and Andrew Webster, former New York Post editor Col Allan, newsreader Sandra Sully, former model Deborah Hutton, Sydney Olympics identity Rod McGeoch, television presenter Sonia Kruger and former swimmer Geoff Huegill.
Wilson's husband, businessman and former chief lieutenant of Rupert Murdoch's Australian newspapers John Hartigan, was joined at the front of the service by her two adult sons, Tom and Will.
Hartigan delivered a moving eulogy, in which he paid tribute to his late wife, saying she was a fearless journalistic practitioner who valued the "public's right to know more than getting a Christmas card from somebody with good contacts".
"Bec considered having a tyre slashed, death threats and constant threats by trolls to be part of the contract that was, unfortunately, necessary to practise her craft," he said.
Wilson's death at age 54 came as a shock to many of her closest friends and colleagues who had wrongly thought she had finally conquered the insidious disease.
Hartigan announced that the NELUNE Foundation, for which Wilson had campaigned and helped raise $18 million in the past decade, had created a lasting legacy to her - the Rebecca Wilson Fellowship into Breast Cancer Research at the Garvan Institute, at St Vincent's Hospital.
The former News Corp boss fought back tears as he concluded his tribute with just four words, the first two of which he said were her favourite parting words: "Rock on, darling Bec."
Her sons also spoke, paying tribute to their mother as "a symbol of a life lived as it should be lived".
There were tearful laughs as Tom said he would embrace her life-long commitment to collecting parking fines.
Last week, Hartigan and her family issued a joint statement that explained her wishes to keep her condition private.
"Courage has always been a significant part of her DNA, no less in her desperate battle against her insidious disease," the family said.
"Rebecca kept knowledge of her illness a closely guarded secret.
"The majority of her friends, colleagues and indeed members of her family were unaware of the extent of her illness.
"She did so to limit their suffering."
The family said Wilson was a fearless sports journalist who made them proud.
"She brushed aside evil trolls, bullies and organised crime figures to prosecute her craft.
"She proved that women had an equally important role in sports journalism as her male counterparts."
Wilson and Hartigan had recently returned from a long trip to Europe together.
The packed church broke into spontaneous applause as the pall bearers - who included both her sons and brother, Jim Wilson - carried the coffin out, although a wry smile emerged on some faces as Wilson's unusual choice of recessional was played: an orchestral version of AC/DC's You Shook Me All Night Long, played on the grand organ by no less than television musical great Geoff Harvey.