Prince Charles’ goddaughter Tara Palmer-Tomkinson dies aged 45

PRINCE Charles’ goddaughter, the former “It girl” and socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, has died at the age of 45 after a recent battle with ill health.

FORMER IT girl, and Prince Charles’ goddaughter, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson has died aged 45.

The Sun reports that the socialite had been battling a brain tumour since last January, and passed away at her London home earlier today. Her cause of death has not yet been revealed.

Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles have led tributes.

Britain's Prince Charles, 2nd right, with his younger son Prince Harry, right, joined in a ski lift by Santa Sebag Montefiore, with her sister, and Prince Charles' goddaughter, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, on the way up the Gotschnabahn ski runs above Klosters, Switzerland. Picture: AP

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall released a statement soon after Palmer-Tomkinson’s death was reported, saying they are “deeply saddened and our thoughts are so much with the family.”

The socialite revealed she was fighting a brain tumour after going for a set of blood tests when she started feeling run down early last year.

The Prince of Wales is greeted by goddaughter Tara Palmer Tomkinson in 2003. Picture: Supplied

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson seen on a skiiing trip with Prince Harry in 1996. Picture: Rex/australscope

Doctors discovered a growth in her pituitary gland which was malignant and was affecting the production of hormone prolactin.

“I said, ‘What does this mean? Can you translate it?’” she said. “The doctor said, ‘As I suspected, you have a brain tumour.’”

Palmer-Tomkinson’s blood tests also revealed that she was suffering from a rare auto-immune condition, related to her anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA-related), in which abnormal antibodies attack the body’s cells and tissues.

Symptoms include tiredness, weight loss, fever, joint pain, acute anaemia and headaches. Untreated, the condition is fatal.

Even with treatment, it commonly attacks the upper respiratory tract (sinuses, nose, ears and trachea), the lungs and the kidneys.

“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,” she said. “‘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.”

Tomkinson and Kate Middleton. Picture: Dave M. Benett/Getty Images

Pictured at an event with the now Duchess of Cornwall back in 2007. Picture: Dave M. Benett/Getty Images

Seen here at the Tatler 300th Anniversary Party in 2009 with Pippa Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge’s sister. Picture: Dave M. Benett/Getty Images

Tara Palmer Tomkinson leaves the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland's daughter Lady Melissa Percy to Thomas van Straubenzee at St Michael's Church in Alnwick, England, in 2013. Picture: AP

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, left, and her family arriving at Prince Charles’ and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall's service of Prayer and Dedication at St. George's Chapel in Windsor, England. Picture: AP

The star was born in Hampshire to Olympic skier Charles Palmer-Tomkinson, a former 1964 Olympic skier, and wife Patricia in 1971. Prince Charles and Mr Palmer-Tomkinson were good friends and he taught the royal how to ski, meaning the two families would often travel together to ski.

When she was a school girl, she dreamed of being a pianist or to ride in the Grand National, but she quickly fell down other paths.

Life in pictures: Tara Palmer-Tomkinson

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The brunette model became a household name after crossing the line from aristocratic society into celebrity culture.

After leaving school, the kooky posh girl briefly worked in the City of London for Rothschilds bank before she grew in fame through her weekly columns.

In the 1990s, Palmer-Tomkinson held regular columns in publications such as The Sunday Times, The Spectator, The Mail on Sunday, GQ and Tatler, which featured her weekly activities.

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson co-wrote The Naughty Girls Guide to Life. Picture: Supplied

Socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson in 1996. Picture: Supplied

However, despite being a gossip writer she was very discreet about her relationship with the royal family.

“William, Harry and me – we grew up together,” she said in 2012. “There is a complete code of trust there, a code that says ‘Zip it and treasure it’. I have a thing about trust: it is priceless.”

British socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson in 2007. Picture: AFP

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson arriving at the Ben de Lisi catwalk show on the first day of London's Fashion Week in 2007. Picture: AFP

She was also close to Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, who she helped console when she and

Prince William briefly broke up in 2007.

“We have had lots of fun nights in relaxed situations and when they briefly split up I said to her, ‘He’ll be back, don’t worry’,” she said. “She and her sister Pippa came to my brother’s book launch during the split and people were being kind of horrible to her, but I knew William would be back as soon as he realised what he was missing out on.”

British socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson in North Queensland during filming of the UK version of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here. Picture: Supplied

Tara Palmer Tomkinson was very well known in the UK. Picture: Supplied

Palmer-Tomkinson had said she will always remember the holidays she spent with Prince Charles, Princess Diana and their kids, William and Harry, as being some of her best days.

“Some of the happiest moments of my life were when I was on holiday with the royal family in Klosters as a child,” she told The Guardian in 2010. “The happiest moments I remember were those amazing, down-to-earth holidays in Switzerland.”

She referred to Prince Charles often as “one of the kindest, most generous men in my life.”

Police said the Coroner had been informed about Palmer-Tomkinson and while the death was “unexplained” it was not “suspicious.”

This article originally appeared in The Sun