Reply to "V S Naipaul dies aged 85"

The sister of the late author Sir VS Naipaul has claimed that the details of her brother's funeral are being kept a secret.

Trinidad-born British writer Naipaul, who died on August 11 in London, was awarded the Booker prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature during his distinguished career.

In an exclusive interview from her Trinidad home, Savi Akal, 80, said that the three surviving siblings — herself and her sisters Nalini Chapman, 66, and Mira Enalsingh, 82 — have not been told anything about arrangements for their brother’s funeral since he died on Saturday.

Mrs Akal said it seems his birth family is being kept in the dark over funeral arrangements for the author. Naipaul never held a funeral for his first wife, Pat, she said, so it may be that he did not request one.

Mrs Akal last saw Naipaul, 85, at his London flat in April, when the family celebrated her 80th birthday with him and his wife, Lady Nadira Naipaul.