Oprah details final moments with father before his death

Oprah Winfrey has opened up about her last moments with her father Vernon before he died aged 89 after a battle with cancer.

Revealing the devastating news on Instagram, the talk show host revealed she was by his side as he took his last breath on July 8.

"Less than a week ago we honoured my father in his own backyard. My friend and gospel singer Wintley Phipps saluted him with song. He FELT the love and revelled in it until he could no longer speak," she wrote on Saturday.

"Yesterday with family surrounding his bedside, I had the sacred honour of witnessing the man responsible for my life, take his last breath. We could feel peace enter the room at his passing.

"That peace still abides. All is well. Thank you for your prayers and good thoughts."

On her website Oprah Daily, she told of how she spent the Fourth of July holiday with her father, surprising him with balloons, flowers, a giant sign and friends and family.

Of those in attendance was her father's older sister.

Oprah also shared a touching message about her dad to celebrate Father's Day earlier this year.

“It’s a common bond that we all share that we all have fathers. I’m back in Nashville to visit my dad. This is the house where I spent most of my teen years, here on Arrington Street, with him and my stepmother,” Oprah wrote on her website.

“When I finally made enough money to buy them a better home, I did, but all the best memories come from this little space.

“My father was strict, he was disciplined, always afraid that I was gonna stray from the path of righteousness he was trying to lay before me.

“We went to church every Sunday, read out loud from the Bible regularly, and he used to tell me stories and parables all the time.”

She added she had her father to thank for her success.

“If it were not for him, I doubt that anybody in the world would know my name," she said.

“I know firsthand how the trajectory of life can change by the positive influence of a good father.”

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