Confirming her death, Rigg’s longtime friend and talent agent, Lionel Larner, said she died “peacefully” this morning, adding that she had been “at home in England with her family who has asked for privacy at this difficult time”.

She said “She was a beautiful kind and generous human being that enhanced the lives of all that knew her as well as a great actress. She leaves a great void in my heart,”

Her daughter, actress Rachael Stirling, said Rigg had been diagnosed with cancer in March and had “spent her last months joyfully reflecting on her extraordinary life, full of love, laughter, and deep pride in her profession. I will miss her beyond words.”

Rigg, who rose to prominence in the 1960s for her role as Emma Peel in The Avengers, played Lady Olenna Tyrell in HBO’s smash hit Game of Thrones. She also played Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, or Tracey Bond, James Bond’s first and only wife to date, in the 1969 film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

She won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for the BBC miniseries Mother Love in 1989, and an Emmy Award for her role as Mrs Danvers in an adaptation of Rebecca (1997).

This makes this makes ‘Game of Thrones’ the highest viewed show in HBO history beating it’s own viewership record weekly.

Across HBO, HBO Go, and HBO NOW, the conclusion of the megahit fantasy series drew 19.3 million viewers, overtaking the previous series high of 18.4 million viewers that was set on May 12. In addition, 13.6 million people watched the telecast on HBO alone, breaking the record for the biggest single telecast in HBO history.

The previous record holder was the Season four premiere of ‘The Sopranos’ in 2002, which drew 13.4 million. ‘Game of Thrones’ also once again lifted up the Bill Hader-led comedy “Barry,” whose Season two finale drew 2.7 million viewers across HBO’s platforms.

That is up over 250% compared to the Season one finale, which drew 774,000 viewers when it aired in 2018.

The final season of HBO’s television adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” was widely criticized by fans who felt the pacing and its treatment of previous character developments were not up to par.

Still, the show continued to have record-breaking viewership. Each episode, except one, topped viewer counts from the season seven finale, which was the series high prior to season eight’s release.

NAN reports that one of the complaints surrounding the eighth and final season was its pacing and its treatment of previous character developments.

While the first six seasons all contained 10 episodes, season seven was comprised of only seven installments and season eight had only six.

Fans wished that plot lines that may have been developed further given more time fell flat for many longtime viewers of the show.

To drive home their dissatisfaction, over 800, 000 fans have signed a petition calling for season eight to be remade. (NAN)