Thank you for loving me – I had a great life
Suicide note left by Cecil Parkinson’s tragic daughter before she hanged herself at home
THE eldest daughter of Cecil Parkinson hanged herself two days after she was discharged from a private psychiatric hospital, an inquest heard.
Neighbours found Mary Parkinson, 57, at her £900,000 Victorian house last December just weeks before her birthday.
The ex-Cabinet minister’s daughter had left a note saying: ‘Thank you for loving me so much I had a great life until six months ago.’
Despite being treated at the Nightingale Hospital in Marylebone, central London, doctors say she refused to accept she had bipolar disorder – insisting she had addiction issues – and was discharged on December 8.
Miss Parkinson had led a troubled life that spiralled into drug addiction and prostitution, Westminster Coroner’s Court heard.
At 14 she was anorexic, and became hooked on drugs when she went to university. She was arrested for solicitation and tried to kill herself several times. At 23, she and her father, the millionaire former Conservative Party chairman, fell out after it emerged that he had fathered a lovechild with his secretary Sara Keays in 1983.
Her addiction to heroin spiralled out of control in 1987, and her parents threw her out of the family home.But in 1990 she managed to kick her drug habit and was reconciled with her father, who was a Cabinet minister in Margaret Thatcher’s government.
Her parents spent thousands of pounds on treatment to combat her mental health problems. At the time of her suicide, friends said it was directly linked to the death of her 84-year-old
Daddy’s girl: Mary Parkinson and her beloved father, Cecil father, whom she adored, in believe she had been mentally ill January 2016. in the past. She did not admit
Dr Mike McPhillips, a psychiatrist she had a bipolar diagnosis. at the Nightingale Hospital, ‘She really felt she should have a private mental unit, told the been in an addiction centre. inquest: ‘She was transferred to Friends and family met to discuss my care in the summer of 2017. what to do. It had been a
‘Mary did not really believe she tremendous difficulty as a group was mentally ill, and she did not of people trying to persuade Mary what we thought was the best course of action.
‘She found it very difficult to make up her mind.
‘It was her persuasion to be part of the addiction treatment centre. She strongly believed it was the way to get better, even with things like depression.’
Dr McPhillips said he was so concerned that he considered having her sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
He added: ‘Those who knew her had the challenging experience of looking her in the eyes and saying, “Are you going to be alright?” and finding out she was planning on killing herself.
‘There was a great anxiety about letting her out of the hospital. All levels of care, from living with a friend, living with a carer – everything had been discussed. On each occasion she found a way to avoid that care.’
A friend found Miss Parkinson’s body at her house in Battersea, south London, after she failed to show up for an outing.
Westminster Coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe said she died as a result of asphyxiation and recorded a verdict of suicide.
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‘She found a way to avoid care’