Tara: It wasn’t a brain tumour
Sister reveals socialite died of stomach ulcer
TARA Palmer-Tomkinson died of a perforated stomach ulcer and not a brain tumour, her family revealed yesterday.
Her sister Santa Montefiore also said the socialite had been happy and had not retreated to a ‘dark place’ before she died suddenly of natural causes last week.
The grieving author insisted her 45-year-old sister was ‘in high spirits’ in the run-up to her death.
She disputed reports that had claimed Miss Palmer-Tomkinson, a former drug addict, had been using cocaine as recently as last year, and wanted drugs ‘every day’ before she was found dead by a cleaner in her £1.6million London flat last Wednesday.
Writing on Twitter, Mrs Montefiore revealed a coroner had concluded that her sister died after the ulcer triggered peritonitis, which is severe inflammation of the stomach lining, and deadly blood poisoning.
The coroner’s report said a non-cancerous growth in Miss Palmer-Tomkinson’s brain had not contributed to her death.
The former It Girl, who was diagnosed with the benign growth on her pituitary gland in January last year, had recently spoken in the Mail of her fear about dying.
But experts from the Pituitary Foundation say it is not technically the same as a brain tumour. And the socialite had appeared to be getting better, with further tests revealing the growth was not an issue.
Miss Palmer-Tomkinson is understood to have been on a number of painkillers, which are one of the leading causes of stomach ulcers.
The former model was also
‘In high spirits in her last days’
suffering from an auto-immune disease at the time of her death, which is still being treated as ‘unexplained’ by Scotland Yard.
Accompanying her Twitter statement yesterday, Mrs Montefiore also released a photo of Miss Palmer-Tomkinson draped over the piano she loved to play, wearing a pink ballgown and looking happy.
She wrote: ‘ I’ve been so touched by the warm response to Tara’s death. Thank you from the whole family.
‘But I’d like to clarify a couple of points. Today the coroner’s report states that Tara died of natural causes – a perforated ulcer. She did not have a brain tumour.
‘Tara’s good friends and family know that she was in high spirits in her last days. She had plans, trips and had written a moving new song.’
Her family later released a longer statement saying: ‘Tara died peacefully in her sleep due to a perforated ulcer and peritonitis.
‘Those that knew and were close to Tara knew that there was no retreat to a “dark place” as some have disappointingly sought to suggest.
‘In the last few weeks Tara was happy, positive and making plans for when she recovered her health. As usual she had been busy with the friends and family she loved, and who loved her in return.
‘She was in communication with her family and others of whom she was fond over her final weekend and had spent a lot of her time recording music and playing the piano in her apartment – a sure sign that she was happy and feeling good. ‘ We will miss Tara very much and will never forget the joy, love and humour she brought to our lives.’
The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, close friends of the Palmer-Tomkinsons, also paid tribute to the socialite, saying they were ‘ deeply saddened’ by her death.
The Duchess of York, whose mother was Miss Palmer-Tomkinson’s godmother, said her family was ‘so shocked by this tragic news of the magnificent, beautifully energetic soul of Tara’.
A full inquest is yet to be held into her death, but the coroner provided the report following the conclusion of the post-mortem examination, which means the family will now be able to hold her funeral, due to take place on February 27.