Shane MacGowan’s widow finds it “very hard” to feel “sad” he is dead.

Victoria Mary Clarke, who married the late Pogues frontman in 2018 after they had spent decades together, admitted she’s struggling to feel devastation as she is convinced the hard-drinking singer is now in a “very blissful state” after his death aged 65 on 30 November.

She told BBC Radio 4’s ‘Woman’s Hour’ show in an emotional interview: “Shane is still very much with me. Like, I really feel him – I don’t feel he’s gone.

“When I look at his picture, I feel him smiling at me, and I actually feel a real smile, a real genuine connection.

“Yeah, I feel his love and I feel that connection really strongly.

“So it’s very hard to feel sad about it, even though I do sometimes like burst into tears for my own loss.

“I can’t feel sad for him because I just realty feel he is in a very blissful state.”

Victoria added about the bond she felt with Shane: “It’s like having a piece of your soul that is in another human form.

“And to me, I felt like I was at one with him, I was at home with him, I felt that his beauty was always there.”

Victoria also posted a long Instagram post saying she has felt connected to his “presence” since his death, which came after he suffered a string of health issues including pneumonia.

She added to her fans alongside a post of her hugging Shane: “I… want you to know that you really don’t need to feel sad for me because @shanemacgowanofficial is still very much with me in every moment and I feel very connected with him and I feel enormous love (red heart emoji) and encouragement from him and I feel his sense of humour and his pure joy (smiling face emoji) and presence as if he is actually a part of me and he is never going to leave me because he is in my heart (red heart emoji) I love that so many of you are celebrating his music and his life and his warmth and compassion and grace and beauty and it is a powerful thing to witness.”

Victoria signed off her post with: “There’s a lot of people that I want to individually thank for making his funeral so special and magical (fairy emoji) and I will probably be doing it for a long time!!!! Bless everyone everywhere always.”