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 

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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 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.

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, pictured left and right skiing with close family friend Prince Charles in 1996, was found dead at a flat in Earls Court today

She was pictured kissing Prince Charles at Klosters in Switzerland in 1995 before she found fame, sparking a mystery over her identity

Tara, pictured with Prince Charles, Prince Harry and her sister Santa Palmer-Tomkinson in 1997, also became a source of emotional support for the Royals following the tragic death of Princess Diana

Charles is not the only Prince she was friendly with, as Tara, far left, also accompanied Prince William, far right, on a skiing trip in Switzerland in 2005

She went from being a publicly educated, well-heeled friend of the Royals to becoming the ultimate IT girl and eventually reality television star. She is pictured right with Prince Charles, centre, and sister Santa, left, in 1995

 During her years in the spotlight she was a columnist, television personality and model and her party-loving lifestyle made the papers on an almost weekly basis.

Her struggles with cocaine addiction in her twenties and her friendships with the Royals came to define her.

She was even said to have counselled Kate Middleton during her brief split with Prince William that things would 'work out' for her. 

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.

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson was the ultimate Nineties It Girl (She is pictured left, with her close family friend Prince Charles in 2003 and right, with Prince Harry in 1994)

She was one of the first celebs to become a 'brand' for no apparent reason, effortlessly (or so it seemed, at first) amassing a newspaper column, book deals and TV presenting gigs. She was everywhere, increasingly falling out of nightclubs and turning up to parties in bikinis, such as this picture from 1998

'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.' 

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 very 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.

In true celebrity fashion, it all went disastrously wrong — down the familiar route of drug addiction, rehab and then endless reinventions. She is pictured at the Elle Style Awards in 2004

She was born in Hampshire in 1971 and raised on the huge 1,200-acre estate Dummer Grange estate near Basingstoke.

The youngest of three children, she attended Sherborne School for Girls where she obtained 10 O Levels and three A Levels before temporarily working for Rothschilds Bank in London.

But after deciding a career in finance was not for her, she entered the modelling scene and went on to become one of the countries most famous socialites. 

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! where she finished as runner-up in the inaugural series.

Tara (pictured far left) with her mother Patty, father Charles and their siblings Santa and James in 1988

Tara, pictured with her mother Patti and her sister Santa in 1995. She is, she says, surrounded by love and support from all of her family 

Tara was the first ever celebrity to attempt a bush tucker trial in which she tackled the 'Jungle Shower'. Her glamorous look was tested after she was 'gunged', but she walked away with eight meals for the camp.

She also won Comic Relief Does Fame Academy – a triumph she once described as ‘the best moment of my life’, after triumphing with a rendition of the Beatles classic Penny Lane.

But she also took part in a confessional interview with Jeremy Kyle in which she spoke about the cocaine addiction that almost killed her and admitted to being a virtual recluse. 

The socialite turned television star, who revealed she spent £35,000 on rehab, told Kyle she 'knew her heart was going to stop' and 'crawled' to the phone to call an ambulance, 'waking up in hospital'.

Other telelvision credits included Cold Turkey in 2004, which saw her attempt to quit smoking, while she also appeared on celebrity versions of Blind Date and Project Catwalk and frequently appeared on ITV's Loose Women.

She was also due to compete in the first series of The Jump on Channel 4 but quit the show and was replaced by Laura Hamilton after she 'decided the show was not for her' following the training. 

Tara appeared on the Jeremy Kyle Show in 2014, pictured, and opened up about her cocaine addiction

She tearfully revealed she 'knew her heart was going to stop' and 'crawled to the phone' to call for an ambulance before 'waking up in hospital'

Tara poses with a falcon at a photo opportunity at the Coq d'Argent roof garden in London June 10, 2003

Tara (pictured left and right in 1997) 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!

As a presenter, she fronted Animals Do the Funniest Things alongside Tony Blackburn and was a team captain on current affairs comedy gameshow Bognor or Bust on ITV.

Other presenting gigs included Junior Eurovision, Top of the Pops, Popworld and children's weekend show SM:TV Live.

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'.

Tara was the kooky posh girl who crossed the line from aristocratic society into celebrity culture. She is pictured at a premiere in Leicester Square in 1997

Her father was Charles Palmer-Tomkinson, a wealthy landowner and former Olympic skier. She is pictured left at the premiere of X-Men in 2000 and right shopping in Chelsea in 1997

‘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.’

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.

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

Tara with Blue's Duncan James on 'Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway in 2007 (right) and left in 2002 after leaving the I'm A Celebrity... jungle

Kate Thornton, Beverley Callard, Tara, Denise Welch and Sherrie Hewson on 'Loose Women' in 2010

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.

She may be the original famous-for-being-famous celebrity – a precursor to stars today created by shows such as Big Brother and Made in Chelsea – but she was also a trailblazer of sorts, and lived a life very different to the one her family envisaged her.

Tara was one of the first celebrities to become a 'brand' for no apparent reason. She is pictured here modelling at a fashion show in London in 2004