Dear God, can I have my beautiful girl back?
Ben Goldsmith’s anguished plea after child’s death
BEN Goldsmith last night spoke of his indescribable grief after the death of his teenage daughter.
In a heart-rending tweet three days after 15-year-old Iris was killed, the financier begged God to see his ‘ beautiful ... little girl’ again.
Iris died when her vehicle – a cross between a quad-bike and a Jeep – overturned on the family’s Somerset farm on Monday.
Posting a photograph of Iris, Mr Goldsmith tweeted: ‘Dear God, please can I have my beautiful, brilliant, kind little girl back, please God. And if not, please take extra special care of her.
‘I love her so so much and I’m so proud of her. It hurts me so much I can’t describe.’
Mr Goldsmith was told of his daughter’s accident while playing a cricket match at Charterhouse School in Godalming, Surrey. He rushed from the game with his two elder sons, Frankie, 13, and Isaac, 11, back to Somerset.
Iris was the niece of Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith and campaigner Jemima Goldsmith. Her father is the youngest son of Lady Annabel Goldsmith and Sir James Goldsmith, the late financier and Referendum Party leader.
A family friend said earlier in the week: ‘This is the most awful accident. Iris was a complete firecracker – an absolute delight.
‘Everyone in the family loved her to bits. She was beautiful, charming, intelligent, wonderful company and absolutely the loveliest person you could meet.’
Iris had just completed her first year studying for GCSEs at Wycombe Abbey, a £12,980-a-term independent girls’ boarding school in High James Wycombe, Hooke, Buckinghamshire. the headmaster of her former school, The Harrodian in Barnes, south- west London, said: ‘The school community is united in its grief over the tragic and sad news of the passing of its former pupil Iris Goldsmith. ‘Our thoughts, love and sympathies are with her family and friends at this awful time. Iris was the most wonderful, dedicated and talented pupil during her seven years at Harrodian. ‘She was a kind, gentle and caring student who adored her school and her friends and was impeccably behaved. It is tragic that such a talented and vivacious child has been taken from us so young.’
An inquest is expected to be opened in the coming days.
Iris’s death is the latest tragedy for the Goldsmiths. Lady Annabel’s son Rupert Birley disappeared in Togo and is presumed dead, while another son Robin was attacked by a tiger at the private zoo of a family friend, where he was mauled and scarred for life.