Paul Daniels to spend final days at home after brain tumour diagnosis

'He knows things are not in his hands now and we are living in the knowledge every day is a bonus,' says his son

His son revealed the magician had managed to remain in high spirits while undergoing tests at the Royal Berkshire Hospital for his inoperable brain tumour (PA)

The magician and entertainer Paul Daniels has left hospital to spend his final days at home in Berkshire with his family after recently being diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour.

His son Martin Daniels said the 77-year-old fell over at home and was taken to hospital suspected of suffering a minor stroke, although he was later diagnosed with brain cancer.

“Dad’s not going to get any better,” his son told The Sunday Mirror.

“There’s no treatment which can help him. Doctor’s haven’t said how many weeks or months he might have – and we haven’t asked.

“It is unbearably difficult. He has said before when “it’s your time it’s your time” and that’s how he is trying to face up to things.”

The television legend achieved international fame through his BBC series The Paul Daniels Magic Show which ran from 1979 to 1994.

Martin, 52, said his dad turned down the chance of radiotherapy after he was informed the treatment would not be able to extend his life.

Martin, who is also a magician, halted his tour in Argentina after his father’s wife Debbie McGee made him aware of the news.

Paul famously married his assistant McGee in 1988.

His son said the magician had managed to remain in high spirits while undergoing tests at the Royal Berkshire Hospital for his brain tumour, conversing with fellow patients and making jokes.

“He sat at the nurses’ stations. He was doing a little ditty by the door to the ward saying, ‘roll up, roll up, visiting time is over folks’.

“But that’s dad. He is a natural showman, a natural entertainer and even at a time like that he wanted to try to make others happy.”

Once Britain’s best-known magician, Paul first appeared on talent series Opportunity Knocks in 1970 and fast became a mainstay on national television.