Daughter of Cecil Parkinson found dead
The eldest daughter of the late Tory grandee Cecil Parkinson has been found dead at her home nearly two years after the death of the father she idolised. Mary Parkinson, 57, had fallen into drug addiction and prostitution after it emerged her father had fathered a daughter with his secretary.
THE eldest daughter of the late Tory grandee Cecil Parkinson has been found dead at her home nearly two years after the death of the father she idolised.
Mary Parkinson, 57, had led a troubled life, spiralling into the depths of drug addiction and prostitution and struggling to cope when it emerged that her father, the millionaire former Conservative Party chairman, had fathered a love child with his secretary.
She had more recently reconciled with Lord Parkinson, whom she was said to adore, and had been clean of drugs for decades.
But his death, aged 84, from cancer in January last year triggered a renewed struggle for the already fragile Miss Parkinson. A close friend, who saw her just last week, said: “She had become stick-thin and very frail.
“She was very depressed, but she had been that way before and always pulled through in the end. Maybe her latest illness had weakened her that much that she just could not do it any more. Over the years Mary had told close friends about the rift with her family after the publicity about her father’s affair with his secretary and their love child Flora Keays.”
She is understood to have been found dead at her Victorian terrace home in Wandsworth, south-west London, where she lived alone, on Sunday evening. The alarm was raised by a neighbour who broke into her home and contacted the emergency services. It is understood that the same man broke into the property with concerns over her welfare in September.
A window was boarded up at the property yesterday and neighbours described the frantic attempts to break in and save her. Keith Edwards, 69, said: “I know she has been in and out of Queen Mary in Roehampton having psychological treatment.
“She was very depressed following the death of Cecil Parkinson. She could be friendly at times, but she was unhappy.” Miss Parkinson had enjoyed a privileged upbringing alongside sisters, Emma, now 56, and Joanna, now 53, excelling at sports such as lacrosse, tennis and horse riding. But, at the age of 14, she developed anorexia. By the time she went to university, she became addicted to drugs and is said to have nearly died three times after taking heroin, as well as being arrested.
Her parents spent years and many thousands of pounds trying to help her, taking her to clinics and treatment centres. Her mother, Lady Ann Parkinson, even founded a charity, Action on Addiction, whose patron is the Duchess of Cambridge, to help her but she soon turned back to drugs. She finally kicked the habit in 1990 and reconciled with her father.
Lady Parkinson, 82, sold the family home near Potters Bar, Herts, and could not be contacted for comment.
Scotland Yard said police had been called shortly after 9.30pm to an address in Battersea following reports of concerns for the welfare of a female resident. A spokesman said: “Officers attended along with London Ambulance Service colleagues and discovered a female, believed to be aged 57. She was pronounced dead at the scene. At this early stage the incident is not being treated as suspicious.”
‘She was very depressed ... She could be friendly at times, but she was unhappy’