'Very loud bang' heard inside London Penthouse of socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, 45, FIVE days before she was found dead - as 'saddened' Prince Charles mourns the death of his close friend

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Tara Palmer-Tomkinson has been found dead in her London flat aged 45 following a battle with a brain tumour - days after builders said they heard a 'loud bang' from her home. 

The workmen said they 'had not seen' the socialite and former It girl since hearing the noise last Friday.

It is understood she was discovered at her apartment in upmarket Bramham Gardens by a friend yesterday shortly before 2pm. Tara recently revealed she had been receiving treatment for a growth in her pituitary gland.

Family friends the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall have said they are 'deeply saddened', adding: 'Our thoughts are so much with the family'.

Her family and the royals had bonded on the slopes of the Alps, with her father Charles teaching the Prince of Wales how to ski.

She would return to Switzerland with the royals throughout her life, providing support to young princes William and Harry after the death of their mother, Princess Diana. 

Police say they are treating her death as 'unexplained' but not suspicious. Her family have been informed. 

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Tara Palmer-Tomkinson was found dead in her flat in London this afternoon. She is pictured in November,when she revealed she was being treated for a non-malignant growth in her pituitary gland

Palmer-Tomkinson was a family friend of Prince Charles (pictured together, left, in 2003) and attended numerous royal weddings and occasions. She was last pictured (right) two weeks ago outside her flat, where she was found dead yesterday

The Hampshire-born socialite mixed with royalty and was friends with the Duchess of Cambridge (pictured, left, 2007) and her sister Pippa (pictured, right, at a book launch in London in  2008)

A builder told The Sun they were working in the building when the emergency services were called to her flat.

He said: 'We thought about going upstairs to see if everything was OK, but the emergency services arrived a few minutes later.

An ambulance outside Tara's home in west London yesterday

'We’d hear her walking around up there. But last ­Friday we heard a very loud bang in the afternoon — like someone or something falling over. We hadn’t seen her or heard her since then.'

Friends also told the paper they believed she may have 'relapsed' into drug use at a party in London before Christmas and were 'concerned' because she looked 'dishevelled'.

Another source said she had become a 'recluse' since the tumour was found in her brain.

The source told The Sun: 'Her health had left her in a really bad way and she was very low. She thought about death a lot and even disc­ussed her funeral at points.'

Three months ago, the socialite told the Daily Mail how she feared she was going to die when doctors revealed she had a brain tumour.

She said she had received treatment for the non-malignant growth in her pituitary gland since January 2016 and said at the time that it had cleared.

She told the Mail in November: 'I went to the doctors to talk about my latest blood test results when I got back from skiing in January. I said: 'What does this mean? Can you translate it?' And the doctor said: 'As I suspected, you have a brain tumour'.

'I got terribly frightened. I started thinking, I'm going to die, I'm going to die. I've only got a couple of weeks to live. Stuff like that.'

The former I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! contestant, who has battled drug problems in the past, also said blood tests found she was suffering with an auto-immune disease which had caused tiredness, joint pain and acute anaemia. 

Sarah, Duchess of York, said her family was ‘so shocked by this tragic news of the magnificent, beautifully energetic soul of Tara’. 

She added: ‘My mother was her very proud godmother, and she adored her. We are all deeply shocked and saddened.’

Her best friend Duncan James tweeted this afternoon: '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.' 

Piers Morgan wrote on Twitter: 'RIP Tara Palmer Tomkinson, 45. A fun, feisty woman who battled many demons. Very sad news.'

Grant Harrold, aide to Royals & former Butler to  Princes Charles, William and Henry, also paid his respects.

He wrote: 'I am deeply shocked & saddened to hear Tara Palmer-Tomkinson has died. I was lucky enough to have met her and know her family. A lovely Lady.' 

Tara's former I'm A Celebrity co-star Darren Day added: 'I'm so sad to hear that Tara Palmer-Tomkinson has passed away. Thoughts and love to her family RIP Tara x.'

The former model and media personality was removed from her home and taken to a private ambulance this evening

A private ambulance outside the Bramham Gardens apartment this evening. Local residents spoke of their shock yesterday 

Police outside her Earl's Court flat after she was found dead shortly before 2pm. Neighbours said she was 'very sweet'

Tara (left) with her parents Patty and Charles, sister Santa and brother James in 1988. Right: With Prince Harry in 1994

She got to know the royals on the ski slopes of the Alps and was pictured receiving a kiss from Charles in 1995

Palmer-Tomkinson's previous boyfriends include Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes, singer Duncan James, actor Sid Owen, Fiat boss Eduardo Teodorani-Fabbri and Lord Robert Hanson.

An interview with the Daily Mail's Jenny Johnston last April revealed she was still single and could not remember when she last had a date - but that she had wanted children when she was younger.

Palmer-Tomkinson said at the time: 'I thought I'd be married and have two children by now. I imagined I'd be living in the country. I'd have my parents' lifestyle, basically.'

Her brother James Palmer-Tomkinson was abroad when she died, working in Switzerland for his ski company.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: 'Police were called by London Ambulance Service at approximately 1.40pm today 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.'

Neighbours told of how she used to drive her silver BMW 'very fast and furious' down the street, but said she was a 'very sweet' member of the local community.

Anne Swift said: 'We always saw her driving very fast and furious in her car, she always lived life to the full.

'We have a resident's association and she was part of that to a certain extent. As far as I am aware she was living alone.'

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, pictured in London in 2006 after having her nose straightened in an operation costing £6,000, when her cocaine habit left it on the brink of collapse, having destroyed her septum, the wall of cartilage between the nostrils

Palmer-Tomkinson (pictured arriving at a fashion show in a Lamborghini Murcielago in 2006) presented a series of TV shows, including What Kids Really Think, Popworld, Top of the Pops and SM:TV Live

The socialite's party-loving ways became well-known around London in the 1990s. Pictured, left, at her birthday party in 1998 and, right, at hairdresser John Barrett's party in the early 1990s

Another resident who lives opposite told of how Tara had told we she looked amazing several months before she died.

The neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: 'I saw her about two months ago and she seemed alright, she was with someone I knew.

'She was always very sweet, that day she looked at me and she said 'you look amazing'. It's very sad.'

After her party-loving ways thrust her into the spotlight, she made headlines with a £400-a-day cocaine addiction, which left her needing septum reconstruction surgery in 2006. 

As she grew up, her family who mingled with the royals during ski trips. Pictured with Charles, left, in 1995 and right in 1996

Tara on a ski lift in 1994 with her sister Santa (left), Prince Charles (second right) and a young Prince Harry (right)

Tara - known as 'TPT' - rose to fame in the 1990s as a model. She continued to present and appear on TV through out her life

During her years in the spotlight, she was a newspaper columnist and television personality and had a close relationship with the royal family, attending the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011. 

But she has previously been at pains to stress how false the image of her socialite life was.

Speaking to the Daily Mail last year, she said: 'When I got the It-girl tag it was all about timing. They wanted a real-life Ab Fab person. That was only a small part of who I was.

'I didn't come from the Paris Hilton world. Mine was privileged, yes, but it was old money. Our house was — is — held together with Super Glue. If a plate breaks, my father fixes it.'

Last year she also revealed to the Telegraph that she still struggles with self-esteem, admitting that over the years she has been 'destroyed' by people's negative comments regarding her appearance.

Palmer-Tomkinson claimed she had never been tempted to undergo cosmetic surgery because people had never told her that she looked nice and she had resigned herself to having a 'crooked face'.

She said: 'If people said I looked nice every day, I might have been tempted (to have surgery). But my face is really crooked and that's that. It's not all from drugs… or maybe I've got facial dysmorphia. I've been destroyed by the things people have said.'

She had a series of celeb boyfriends. Pictured, left, with Duncan James in 2003 and, right, with Aussie Brad Hunt in 2004

Tara with Jamie Hargreaves at a Bridget Jones premiere in 2004. Right: With Eduardo Teodorani-Fabbri in 2009

Palmer-Tomkinson once dubbed her home in the capital as 'the sexiest apartment in London'.

And in The Mail On Sunday's You magazine in December 2015, she spoke about launching her own label Desiderata, which means 'desired things' in Latin.

She said: 'This is not just a project for me. It's a departure in which I am investing my heart and soul.

'I know I've been irresponsible and naive in the past – I've been a child all my life. But it's time I grew up, and this business is the most grown-up thing I've ever done.' 

Sarah Lindsell, chief executive of The Brain Tumour Charity, said: 'Our hearts go out to all of Tara Palmer-Tomkinson's family and friends.

'Three months ago, Tara was brave enough to speak out about her brain tumour diagnosis and the impact it had on her life.

'Her honesty helped to raise awareness of the disease and it was welcomed by the many thousands of people in the UK and around the world who cope with the impact of a brain tumour.

'Tara helped to show why we must do all we can to defeat this devastating disease, which is the biggest cancer killer of children and young people in the UK.'

Visiting flood-hit Thailand and taking a tour around the Net-a-Porter offices in London: Tara's last tweets 

The last picture Tara tweeted, from Net-a-Porter's London offices

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson's last tweet was posted on January 11, encouraging others to vote in the National TV Awards.

But three days earlier she had posted about witnessing the flooding devastation that had hit the Thai island Koh Samui.

She tweeted on January 8: 'I'm home! The floods, disruptions in Koh Samui, beyond horrendous. What I witnessed, experienced at the airport, disruption, chaos, trauma.

'However, it was SO emotionally overwhelming, the kindness of everyone helping everyone, and my prayers are with those still stuck.'

Hundreds of families on the holiday island were left homeless, bridges were down and many roads became impassable beneath the floodwater.

And the last picture she posted of herself was at the Net-a-Porter offices in London on November 29.

She captioned it by saying: 'Honoured to be the first person to experience backstage tour! Thank you to all at Net-a-Porter, aka 'The eighth wonder of the world'!'  

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A 'daily kiss with Prince Charles' and a high profile battle with cocaine: How original IT girl TPT went from a Royally-connected socialite to a reality TV favourite

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson's life in the limelight began through her family's close friendship with the Royals.

Her former Olympic skier father Charles Palmer-Tomkinson forged a lasting bond with the Prince of Wales after teaching him to ski in the 1970s.

That friendship continued through the generations, with Tara invited to accompany Prince Charles and his children on numerous skiing trips in Europe.

She grew up in an aristocratic family, the youngest of three children. She is pictured, aged 16, with the family dog, Wellington

She enjoyed several holidays with the Royals throughout the 1990s at famous ski resorts including Klosters in Switzerland, with Tara and her family understood to join the Prince on at least three vacations per year.

Before she found fame she caused a stir in the press when she was pictured at Klosters kissing Prince Charles in 1995, with the public clamouring to find out who this beautiful mystery woman was.

And following Princess Diana's tragic death she became a source of comfort and emotional support for the Prince and his children.

She was privileged, talented, gorgeous, wealthy - and famously troubled.

By the close of the 1990s this publicly educated, well-heeled woman had become the ultimate IT girl.

As a schoolgirl she dreamed of being a concert pianist and should have got round to doing her Grade 8 exam before she left school, but somehow never did.

'I just wanted to play Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and other beautiful pieces,' she told The Daily Mail last April.

 'I couldn't be bothered with all the boring technicalities of scales and arpeggios.' 

Tara was never afraid to flash the flesh. Pictured, left, in a mini skirt in 2001 and, right, with Pippa Middleton in 2009

Her early ambitions were 'to ride in the Grand National, be a vet or play piano at the Royal Albert Hall'.

Her life took a different twist, however, and she burst in the public consciousness during the mid 90s.

She effortlessly crossed the line from aristocratic society into celebrity culture and it was impossible to open a copy of Hello! or OK! magazines without spotting her.

She was one of the first celebrities to become a 'brand' for no apparent reason, effortlessly amassing a newspaper column, book deals and TV presenting gigs.

Tara was a true eccentric and her appeal lay in her ability to cross both worlds - the old, aristocratic and wealthy while navigating the trappings of modern, reality television star fame.

In 2009 she sensationally revealed: 'I have kissed Prince Charles every single day since I was four years old.'

Indeed, there was something of a furore when an adult Tara was seen kissing the heir to the throne in 1995 - but she later revealed the kiss was just 'to thank him for a day's skiing'.

It has not been smooth sailing.

She was treated for cocaine addiction at The Meadows rehabilitation clinic in Arizona ten years ago, and went on to appear on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!

More recently there were reports of odd behaviour, of a very public meltdown at Heathrow Airport where she was arrested. 

In photographs she has looked pale, gaunt, haunted. And then there was her nose — which famously had to be reconstructed after her cocaine excesses, but which she refused to ever talk about. 

In the same interview from last year, she described how she liked to ski with 'a tail'.

'A tail. I mean, not an actual tail, but I take my black fur scarf and put it round me and have it poking out of my ski pants so that it flows in the wind as I go down.' Why? 'Because I like the whoosh as I go.'

Palmer-Tomkinson appeared on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2002 and finished runner up after being doused in gunge in the jungle shower

Next came some truly original advice on dating.

'In the past, whenever I had a date coming over I used to make toast so the house was full of the yummy smell,' she says. 'I decided it would be a man-magnet. Garlic and olive oil works as well, but I think you have to know the person more.' 

It is anecdotes like these which have kept people interested in her for the past two and a half decades.

She once said: 'When I got the It-girl tag it was all about timing. They wanted a real-life Ab Fab person. That was only a small part of who I was. 

'I didn't come from the Paris Hilton world. Mine was privileged, yes, but it was old money. Our house was — is — held together with Super Glue. If a plate breaks, my father fixes it.'

Her father was Charles Palmer-Tomkinson, a wealthy landowner and former Olympic skier. She was eloquent and self-aware when talking about how she couldn't cope with fame.

She says it was less being selfish and hedonistic that led her to drugs, and more about her simply being scared.

Tara's devastating secret illness in her own words: How the former IT girl revealed her brain tumour just three months before her death

Exactly a fortnight ago, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson was photographed for the last time walking outside her flat in London.

And the shocking news of the socialite's death aged 45 from a brain tumour at her home was revealed yesterday, just two weeks after that picture was taken on January 25.

Back in November last year, the former It girl told the Mail's REBECCA HARDY the shocking news of her diagnosis. Here, we look back at an extract from the interview.

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson arrives early, which is not like Tara at all. More often than not the high-as-a-kite, never-out-of-the-gossip-columns Tara we've known since she burst into the national consciousness more than two decades ago would turn up (if she turned up at all) three days late.

'I'm not the person I was,' says the former It-Girl. 'I'm much calmer. I don't go to places like Ibiza because the party world scares me.

Palmer-Tomkinson at the wedding of Lady Melissa Percy to Thomas van Straubenzee at St Michael's Parish Church last year

'I've gone completely the other way. I'm a very quiet person now, and I like being that person. I have a better perspective on life.

'It used to really matter what people thought and said about me. Now, it doesn't bother me whether people write that I'm off my face, on my face, in my face, whatever. It's all pretty trivial compared to . . . compared to . . .' The sentence ends in tears as Tara points to her forehead.

It is impossible not to want to weep with her. For since January, the 44-year-old has been treated for a brain tumour. The growth in her pituitary gland was discovered following numerous blood tests after she began to feel terribly run down the previous summer.

'I went to the doctors to talk about my latest blood test results when I got back from skiing in January,' she says. 'I said: 'What does this mean? Can you translate it?' And the doctor said: 'As I suspected, you have a brain tumour.'

'I got terribly frightened. I started thinking, 'I'm going to die, I'm going to die. I've only got a couple of weeks to live.' Stuff like that.

Palmer-Tomkinson, pictured, left at a London event in 2003 and, right in 2008, was a stalwart on the capital's social scene

'It's that word, isn't it? But then one of the doctors said: 'Hang on a minute, would it help if you called it a wart or a growth?'

'They said: 'Tara, yes, it's a big scary word which you will keep hearing — but don't get out of control over it. A tumour can go across the board of many different things.'

'I actually feel very lucky. My growth was non-malignant but it affected the production of prolactin [a hormone]. I've been with people who have malignant brain tumours so I don't want to be like, 'Hey look at me'.

'I have been, touch wood,' she reaches out to touch the oak coffee table in front of her 'luckier. I've taken medication and, thankfully, it seems to have gone away for now.'

She added: 'My family has this motto: 'It's always sunny at the top.' As a child, when we were skiing, you'd wake up and it would be a cloudy day with no visibility, so no one else would go skiing.

'That was not for us. My father would say, 'Come on — out of bed', and we'd trudge to the cable car, skis on our shoulders.

Tara never strayed far from the public eye, appearing in a Walkers Crisps ad (left, in 2004) and on the catwalk the same year

'Then, there's that moment when the cable car breaks through the cloud. It's indescribable. You absolutely feel on top of the world. You have cloud beneath you, blue sky above you and an empty mountain. I used to think I was in paradise.

'I feel I'm breaking through the cloud with this. The sun is coming out. I am not going to be that person who lies in bed feeling a victim because of what's happened. I'm going to get on with my business and grab life by the horns.

'A party doesn't have to be full of lights and music. The party is what you want it to be — and my party isn't over.'

Read the full interview by clicking here 

'A fun, feisty woman who battled many demons': Piers Morgan leads a host of celebrity tributes to Tara Palmer-Tomkinson as she dies aged 45

Piers Morgan has led a host of celebrity tributes to Tara Palmer-Tomkinson after she passed away at the age of 45. 

Taking to Twitter, he wrote: 'RIP Tara Palmer Tomkinson, 45. A fun, feisty woman who battled many demons. Very sad news.  

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall have said they are 'deeply saddened and our thoughts are so much with the family'. 

A host of other celebrities also took to social media to pay their respects to Tara. 

Grant Harrold, aide to Royals & former Butler to TRH Princes Charles, William & Henry also paid his respects. 

He wrote: 'I am deeply shocked & saddened to hear Tara Palmer-Tomkinson has died. I was lucky enough to have met her and know her family. A lovely Lady.' 

Firm friends: Piers and Tara have been pals for years - [pictured together at the 2004 Pride of Britain Awards

Touching: Grant Harrold, aide to Royals & former Butler to TRH Princes Charles, William & Henry also paid his respects

Tara's former I'm A Celeb co-star Darren Day wrote: 'I'm so sad to hear that Tara Palmer-Tomkinson has passed away. Thoughts and love to her family RIP Tara x.'

Reality star Dean Gaffney wrote: 'RIP Tara-Palmer Tomkinson so so sad!'

While comedian and television star Dom Joly simply wrote: 'Tara Palmer-Tomkinson dead.' 

Fashion expert Gok Wan wrote: 'So sad to hear of TPT passing away. So young...'

Reality star Chloe Goodman also wrote: 'Absolutely shocked RIP Tara Palmer-Tomkinson such a beautiful woman x so young so heartbreaking #riptara.'

Shoe designer Patrick Cox penned: 'Tara Palmer-Tomkinson. Hadn't seen you in a while… Will always remember your birthday at Tramps when you made your entrance in a bikini and fur coat… A legendary Londoner. #tarapalmertomkinson'. 

Heartbroken: Tara's former I'm A Celeb co-star Darren Day wrote: 'I'm so sad to hear that Tara Palmer-Tomkinson has passed away. Thoughts and love to her family RIP Tara x.'

Tara's The Jump co-star and author Henry Conway wrote: 'Very sad news about #tarapalmertomkinson - she always rocked out the ski gear, here with us on season 1 of #thejump - my condolences to her family.' 

Musician Brian McFadden wrote: 'RIP TPT very sad news. You were a real character and will be sadly missed xx.'

Rufus Hound penned: 'Bl**dy hell. TPT. An icon of nineties hedonism. What a shame.'

Singer Alexandra Burke wrote: What a sad day. RIP TPT. I will never forget how warm and loving you were every time I saw you. Such a beautiful soul. Sad sad news...'

Former CBB star Heavy D added: 'Really sad news about TPT dying, way too young!!'

Big Brother personality Jamie East wrote: 'They don't make 'em like they used to. #tpt' 

A host of other celebrities took to Twitter to express their shock 

Taking a moment: Big Brother personality Jamie East shared this throwback snap of Tara along with his post 

Actor and director Nick Nevern added: 'No way... Rip TPT... the original IT girl'  

Three months ago, the socialite told the Daily Mail how she feared she was going to die when doctors revealed she had a brain tumour.

The former 'It girl' had received treatment for the non-malignant growth in her pituitary gland since January 2016 and said at the time that it had cleared.

She told the Mail in November: 'I went to the doctors to talk about my latest blood test results when I got back from skiing in January. I said: 'What does this mean? Can you translate it?' And the doctor said: 'As I suspected, you have a brain tumour'.

'I got terribly frightened. I started thinking, I'm going to die, I'm going to die. I've only got a couple of weeks to live. Stuff like that.' 

'I knew my heart was stopping': Late former cocaine addict Tara Palmer-Tompkinson revealed she almost died from an overdose in devastating 2014 interview 

Her death at the age of 45 has stunned fans and London society alike.

Tara Palmer-Tompkinson was found dead at her home on Wednesday, three years after she revealed how she had almost passed away from an overdose in a heartbreaking TV interview.

Prince Charles' longtime friend, who struggled with cocaine addiction for years, was a guest on a celebrity special of The Jeremy Kyle Show when she revealed that she had timed her heart waiting for it to stop after a binge.

Tragic: Tara Palmer-Tompkinson was found dead at her home on Wednesday, three years after she revealed how she had almost passed away from an overdose in a heartbreaking TV interview

Breaking down in tears, the star - then 42 - revealed: 'I remember timing my heart because I knew it was going to stop.

'I remember my telephone was there [points] and I remember crawling on my hands and knees to pick up the phone and call, and then I woke up in hospital. 

'I remember saying my prayers. I knew my heart was stopping.'

She went on to confess that drugs had given her 'psychosis' and that she become 'devious'.

Tara was sent to a £35,000 rehab in Arizona by her family to try and beat her demons and after getting clean, Tara insisted she had no desire to every take them again.

The brunette explained: ''I don’t have any temptation to take drugs any more. No, no, gosh no. Drugs absolutely terrify me.'

Emotional: She went on to confess that drugs had given her 'psychosis' and that she become 'devious'

Battle: Prince Charles' family friend, who struggled with cocaine addiction for years, was a guest on a celebrity special of The Jeremy Kyle Show when she revealed that she had timed her heart waiting for it to stop after a binge

She also said that she had become a recluse, preferring to stay at home alone due to anxiety.

'I get terribly anxious going out, I’ve only been out three times this year. I don’t go out to public events. For the last two years I haven’t worked."I've seen a therapist every single week for the last nine, ten years of my life.'

Such are her problems that she told Kyle she visited a therapist every weekday for the last nine years.

She also once admitted having a £400-a-day cocaine habit, underwent reconstructive surgery on her nose in 2006 after it collapsed because of her drug use.

She required a further operation on it in 2011.