LONDON: The family of Harold Pinter gathered yesterday for a private funeral service for the Nobel Prize-winning British playwright, directed according to instructions left by the writer himself, a friend said. His widow Lady Antonia Fraser was joined by other close relatives for the farewell ceremony in London, where the 78-year-old died from cancer on Christmas Eve. The playwright, who knew he was dying from cancer, reportedly asked British actor Michael Gambon three months ago to read out a passage from his play No Man's Land at the ceremony. Actor Matther Burton, who had worked with the writer, told the Evening Standard daily that Pinter had arranged his own funeral. "He seems to have given very precise instructions. I believe the funeral will be carried out to his instructions," said Burton, who was to read from the poem At Lord's by Francis Thompson. Pinter's best-known plays included The Birthday Party, The Dumb Waiter and The Homecoming.