At Russell Armstrong's memorial service, friends showed up to support his estranged wife Taylor Armstrong -- including her Real Housewives of Beverly Hills castmates. Kyle Richards, Lisa Vanderpump, Adrienne Maloof, new cast member Dana Wilkey and Orange County cast member Peggy Tanous attended the service, which was held Wednesday at Forest Lawn cemetery in Los Angeles.
The Hollywood gathering was one of two memorials being held for Armstrong, who committed suicide on August 15 at age 47. The Dallas native's family and childhood friends are also planning a funeral, to be held in Texas in early September. It seems that there will be few people in common between the two ceremonies; RadarOnline reports that Russell's family, although they were invited, declined to attend Taylor's service.
"Russell's family wanted no part of the memorial, they felt it was all for Taylor," says the website's source. "Taylor was relieved that they didn't attend. She wanted to be surrounded by her friends and just say goodbye to Russell."
Taylor and Russell announced their separation in July and had been on bad terms, with Taylor alleging that Russell had physically abused her. While Russell's family believes that Bravo holds some responsibility for his death and is threatening a lawsuit, Taylor reportedly disagrees.
"Russell's suicide wasn't caused by the show or Bravo. Russell just simply cracked over ongoing legal and financial issues," a friend relates to RadarOnline. "In fact, Bravo has been extremely supportive of Taylor during this tragedy."
The two families may not be on good terms, but People reports that they have agreed to split Russell's ashes, with some going to Taylor and the rest going to the Armstrong family cemetery in Texas. With the Los Angeles memorial service over, Taylor can now focus all of her attention on her 5-year-old daughter Kennedy.
"She has a lot on her plate right now," Radar's source says of Taylor, "but she has the support and love of her fellow Housewives. Taylor will get through this."
Though season 2 of the The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is currently being re-edited (potentially to remove Russell from footage), it is still set to premiere on Bravo on September 5.
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