THE funeral for murdered backpacker Grace Millane will take place next week.

Her funeral will see a procession leave the family home in Wickford on Thursday at 10.30am for the service due to start at 11.30am at Brentwood Cathedral.

The burial will then be for family and close friends only in Ramsden Bellhouse.

The wake will then be held at the Stockbrook Country Club.

The burial will not be open to the public, and only family are asked to send flowers, but donations are welcome.

Details were revealed by her brother Declan following an outpouring of grief across the world.

Grace, from Wickford, was travelling the world and had been in New Zealand for two weeks before going missing from a hostel on December 1.

An appeal was launched and her father, David Millane, travelled to New Zealand to join in the search.

Tragically her body was later discovered. A 26-year-old man appeared at Auckland District Court on December 11 charged with murdering the backpacker between December 1 and 2.

The defendant, listed as staying in CityLife Hotel on Queen Street in central Auckland - where Grace had been staying - did not enter a plea.

Judge Evangelos Thomas refused a request for the defendant to remain anonymous but this was appealed meaning the defendant’s anonymity remains for now. During the hearing the judge told her family: “Your grief must be desperate. All of us hope justice for Grace is fair, swift and ultimately brings you some peace.”

Her father said: “Grace went off to travel the world in mid-October and arrived in New Zealand on November 20.

"By the amount of pictures and messages we received she clearly loved this country, its people and the lifestyle.

"After the disappearance of Grace on December 1 our whole world turned upside down.

"I arrived in Auckland on December 7, followed by my brother Martin on Saturday 8th.

"From that very first moment we have been astounded by the level of concern, sympathy and selfless help from every person we have met.”