Tara Palmer-Tomkinson had not been seen for nearly a week before she was found dead, neighbours claim

• Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, socialite – obituary

• The original It Girl: Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, in pictures

• Remember her winning performance on Celebrity Fame Academy?

• One of her final interviews: Why she was more than just an It girl

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, the socialite and self-confessed 'It girl' of her generation, had not been seen for nearly a week before she was found dead in her home at the age of 45, her neighbours have claimed.

Palmer-Tomkinson, who lived alone in West London, was pronounced dead in her own home after a long period of ill-health, months after she disclosed she had been diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Friends said they had feared for her in recent weeks after she appeared frail and out of contact, as police confirmed they were treating the death as unexplained but not suspicious.

An ambulance had been called to the address at 1.40pm, before police were alerted.

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, who were close family friends of the socialite, paid tribute, saying they are "deeply saddened and our thoughts are so much with the family”.

The Duchess of York, whose mother was Palmer-Tomkinson’s godmother, added her family were “so shocked by this tragic news of the magnificent, beautifully energetic soul of Tara”.

The coroner is now investigating cause of death, with shocked friends and family learning of it on Wednesday afternoon.

Friends of Palmer-Tomkinson said they had grown worried for her, after she lost weight and appeared frail.

Neighbours and local shopkeepers said they had not seen her in the week before her death.

An emotional Santa Montefiore, her sister, said the family did not wish to comment.

News of Palmer-Tomkinson’s death came just three months after she disclosed she had been diagnosed with a brain tumour and auto-immune disease.

She had struggled with her health, a lack of energy and weight loss for 18 months before embarking on the right treatment.

She had previously spoken frankly about her former addiction to drugs, rehabilitation, loneliness and anxiety.

In recent interviews, she had spoken of her distress at speculation she had fallen off the wagon, revealing her frail appearance was down to the extended period of ill health.

In November, she told a newspaper she had been “terribly frightened” after being diagnosed with a non-malignant brain tumour which had affected the production of hormone prolactin, leaving her exhausted.

She believed it under control with medication, saying then: “I actually feel very lucky.”

Dr David Jenkinson, the Chief Scientific Officer with The Brain Tumour Charity, said a benign pituitary tumour, if diagnosed and treated could be successfully contained and would not necessarily prove fatal.

Understood to have lived alone, Palmer-Tomkinson had previously spoken of her flat as a sanctuary from which she took two conference calls a day and had kept a pet squirrel.

Once photographed at every society event in an array of eye-catching outfits, she became a tabloid darling who used her own newspaper column to share secrets of her glamorous life.

She visited rehab in 1999 for cocaine addiction and suffered the collapse of her septum, admitting she had once overdosed before entering recovery.

In 2014, she was cautioned by police at Heathrow airport after a disturbance after being seen sobbing, swearing and tearing out her hair in an episode she explained as a panic attack.

In the same year, she dropped out of Channel 4 show The Jump, saying she had become a “recluse” after suffering a breakdown.

In 2016, she told an interviewer her party lifestyle had come at a health cost, and that she now hoped to build a more “conventional” life.

Tara Palmer Tomkinson

She was often photographed with members of the Royal family, enjoying skiing holidays together, and attending at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Neighbours spoke of her as “living life to the full”, driving “fast and furious” around the streets and joining the residents’ association.

She is survived by her parents, Charles and Patricia, brother James and sister Santa.

Palmer-Tomkinson's body was removed from her home on a trolley into a private ambulance on Wednesday evening and driven away.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: "Police were called by London Ambulance Service at approximately 13:40hrs on Wednesday February 8 to an address in Bramham Gardens, SW5.

"A woman, aged in her 40s, was pronounced dead at the scene.

"At this early stage, the death is being treated as unexplained.

"We are not treating this death as suspicious. The coroner has been informed and the next of kin has been informed."

'Heartbroken and numb'

Socialite and reality TV star Tamara Beckwith, one of her friends, said in a statement: "The terribly sad news of my old friend Tara PT's passing has come as quite a shock.

"She was a shining light and I have nothing but very fond memories of the times we had together. She was most definitely one of life's true characters.

"My thoughts are naturally with her family."

The life and career of Tara Palmer-Tomkinson

Blue singer and soap actor Duncan James, a close friend of Palmer-Tomkinson, tweeted: "Heartbroken and numb I have lost one of my oldest and dearest friends.

"I'm going to miss ur laughter the most shmooey . Rip sweetheart (sic)."

Boy George, the singer, said: "Sorry we have lost Tara. R.I.P. She was a sweet complicated soul!"

Friends and fans post social media tributes

TV highlights

One of the most shared videos that went viral following her death is her gutsy performance of These Boots Are Made For Walking for the BBC's Comic Relief Does Fame Academy in 2007.

The show - a spin-off of the BBC's singing contest raising funds for Comic Relief - saw her competing against celebrities including Miranda Hart, Tim Vine, Linda Robson and Shaun Williamson. 

Tara beat out all competition with a string of fabulous performances - but the most fondly remembered is her brilliantly idiosyncratic rendition of the Nancy Sinatra classic:

Other notable appearances include:

Being was one of the 12 celebrities set to appear in the first series of Channel 4 show The Jump in 2014.

But she dropped out shortly after telling Radio Times that she felt "under a lot of pressure" and was "not comfortable" with being the favourite to win.

Her father, Charles, is a former British Olympic skier who instructed the Prince of Wales.

She turned heads when she announced she was launching a pop career in 2011.

The former "It girl" said she had secretly recorded a dance album and confessed she was "a rock chick at heart".

The album, Flawed, was released in 2012, but a performance of her single on ITV's Loose Women attracted fierce criticism.

In 2014, she gave an emotional interview during ITV's Jeremy Kyle: The Celebrity Specials.

She told Kyle about nearly dying from an overdose and spoke about rehab, explaining why she had made a return visit, even though she had been drug-free for some 11 years.

She told Kyle: "I went back to rehab two years ago but nobody actually knows why I went back.

"The reasons I went were private, the reasons I went were that I believed that I was having a nervous breakdown because I was so frightened of this British press, of these paparazzi who went through my rubbish, who led me to believe that every chimney sound or thunderstorm was a paparazzi attack and I couldn't deal with it and I still can't deal with it.

"Most people think that when you relapse that you have to take a substance. I have seen a therapist every single week for the last 11 years of my life, I don't need to relapse on a substance. I can relapse and it just means my brain is overdosing into a way that I just can't cope and you know what, I may not be perfect but parts of me are awesome!"

Recalling her lowest point during her battle with cocaine addiction, she said: "I remember timing my heart because I knew it was going to stop and I remember my telephone was [a few metres away]... I remember crawling on my hands and knees to pick up the phone and call... and then I woke up in hospital."

"I think that was the night I had an overdose. I have never attempted suicide... I think it was a cry for help."

Heathrow disturbance.

She was arrested and cautioned in December 2014 by officers following her reaction to being refused access to a first-class airport lounge, reports said.

Video footage filmed by a witness showed her sobbing, swearing and tearing out her hair extensions during the incident, The Sun reported.

Following her arrest, she told she told the newspaper that a panic attack triggered her behaviour.

During an interview with the Press Association last year, while promoting her fashion line Desiderata, she spoke about having regrets.

She said: "I definitely have regrets. I wish I had never touched half the stuff... But in the same way, I'm not going to sit there and feel ashamed for what I did, because I have had a life! I might be 44, but I was at so many different parties in so many different countries, I haven't slept for 20 years!

"The things that mattered to me a long time ago don't matter any more. What matters to me now is health. Because I've paid a price for my health, and I wish I had given up cigarettes a long time ago... I've always been very health-conscious, but when you're 44, you don't wake up looking the same way."

Brain tumour

Around 16,000 people are, like Palmer-Tomkinson, diagnosed with brain tumours every year across the UK.

The Brain Tumour Research charity said that less than 20% of patients survive beyond five years. And it warned deaths from the disease were increasing, with the number of brain tumour deaths up 27% from 2002.

There are more than 120 different types of brain tumour, with the most common developing from cells that support the nerve cells of the brain.

These are called glial cells and a tumour of glial cells is called a giloma.

TV personality Palmer-Tomkinson had been battling the tumour since January last year.

Sarah Lindsell, chief executive of The Brain Tumour Charity, praised Palmer-Tomkinson for raising awareness of the disease.

Tara Palmer Tomkinson