MURDERED journalist Lyra McKee was planning to propose to the "love of her life" on a romantic getaway to New York in two weeks.
The 29-year-old had told pals about her plans and even invited them to a wedding set for 2021 before she was shot dead in Londonderry, in Northern Ireland, earlier this week.
Miss McKee told her friend Ann Travers about it – just days before her death.
Ann said: "Lyra was going to New York with Sara in two weeks’ time and she was so excited because she was going to propose to her.
"Lyra asked if I would come and I said “of course”, then she told me it would be in 2021. I had to stop myself from laughing because that was just so Lyra. She was so enthusiastic about everything, even with the fact that the wedding was in two years.
"She was so enthusiastic about everything, even with the fact that the wedding was in two years."
"Knowing Lyra, she would have planned the proposal meticulously and had somewhere beautiful to do it. It was a very big thing for her and this is so heartbreaking.
Miss McKee will be laid to rest on Wednesday – with mourners asked to wear Harry Potter items in her memory.
Releasing details of the funeral arrangements, her partner Sara Canning said: “Lyra McKee’s funeral will take place on Wednesday at 1pm at St Anne’s Cathedral Belfast.
"It’s going to be a celebration of her life and if people would like to wear Hufflepuff, Harry Potter, or Marvel related items I know she would love it."
The journalist was brutally gunned down in the Creggan area of Derry on Thursday night.
MURAL REPAINTED
The landmark Free Derry Corner has been repainted to reflect revulsion felt at her killing.
The famous civil rights-era slogan on a gable wall is regularly altered to reflect community sentiment in the Bogside estate.
The city's Catholic bishop has said the nationalist community needs to be liberated from dissident republicans blamed for Miss McKee's shooting on Thursday evening.
A message at Free Derry Corner said: "Not in our name, RIP Lyra" with a heart painted beside it.
Bishop Donal McKeown told BBC Radio Ulster's Sunday Sequence programme: "The one liberation they require in that community is liberation from Saoradh."
Saoradh, translating to liberation in Irish, is a grouping which has the support of the dissident republican group the New IRA.
Bishop McKeown added: "We don't want to be laboured with a reputation that comes from a small group that represents a small number of people but is actually a danger to all of us."
Floral tributes have been piling up at the lamppost where Miss McKee fell, including one written to "beautiful Lyra" from her partner Sara.
A close friend said her death leaves a void which will never be filled, but she hopes it will bring an end to gun violence in the city and meet the expectations of the victim's peace process generation.
A new breed of terrorist is coming through the ranks in Northern Ireland, the detective leading the hunt for her killers has said.
Two teens, aged 18 and 19, were arrested yesterday in connection with the 29-year-old’s shocking shooting at the Derry riots.
Both suspects were taken to Musgrave Serious Crime Suite in Belfast for questioning as PSNI searches were carried out by the murder scene.
As the police probe continues, we revealed evil renegade republicans who slayed the award-winning reporter are sourcing weapons from drugs gangs in Dublin.
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