Mark Hamill and Billie Lourde lead tributes to Carrie Fisher a year after her death

Carrie Fisher died unexpectedly on December 27, 2016, after suffering from a cardiac arrest on a plane while on her book tour. Her death was profoundly felt around the world: she had been promoting the publication of her diaries, giving the kind of witty and frank interviews that had defined her career and made her such a well-loved star. Fisher had also been filming for the eighth Star Wars film, The Last Jedi, shortly before her death. In short – the world was not yet ready for her departure. 

A year later, Fisher's last screen performance has been released in cinemas and fresh tributes have been made to the Princess Leia actress. Her co-star, Mark Hamill, who plays Leia's brother Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise, was among the first to publicly share his thoughts on Wednesday:

Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd, who was fathered by talent scout Bryan Lourd, also posted on Instagram, explaining that she had travelled to Norway to see the Northern Lights – a phenomenon her mother had an "otherworldly obsession" with.

On Twitter, fans used the hashtag #CarrieOnForever to share their tributes and memories, including Disney storyboard artist Brian Kesinger and Marvel Comics' Bill Sienkiewicz: