Tragedy as Prince William’s friend and Big Brother star ‘falls 100ft to death from roof of London Hotel’
Ben Duncan attended University with Prince William and was a renowned socialite in London
Ben Duncan enters The Big Brother House.
Picture:
Alamy
Big Brother star and reported friend of Prince William, Ben Duncan, has died aged 45.
Duncan, who starred in season 11 of the reality TV show, reportedly fell 100ft to his death from a luxury London hotel.
Metropolitan Police officers found the socialite dead beneath the £1,000-a-night Trafalgar St. James hotel late on Thursday.
“Officers responded to concerns for a man on the roof of a building in Cockspur Street, Westminster at 23:02 hours on Thursday, 30 October,” a Met spokesperson told the MailOnline.
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Ben Duncan was a contestant on Big Brother in 2010.
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Shutterstock
“The man sadly fell from height. Despite the best efforts from the London Ambulance service, he was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
“His death is unexpected but non-suspicious.”
Duncan attended University with Prince William and was a renowned socialite in London, known to be friends with Lord Peter Mandelson and former cabinet member turned broadcaster Michael Portillo.
Paying tribute to the Big Brother star, broadcaster Mike Hollingsworth said: “My dear, dear friend Benjamin (Ben) Duncan has left us.
“He lived life as Peter Pan – the boy who never grew up. He will be sorely missed by his many, many friends, who grew to love his charm, his wit, his infectious laugh and his innate sense of style. The world is a poorer place for his passing. RIP Benji.”
Speaking to the Mail, another friend added: “Ben was always the life and soul of the party.
Duncan fell from the roof of the Trafalgar St. James hotel in London.
Picture:
Alamy
“Although he appeared on reality TV shows, Ben’s true passions were politics and music.
“In recent years, he had become more reclusive – and had struggled with insomnia.
“It’s truly devastating that he’s gone so soon.”
Duncan was one of the first people to know about William’s budding relationship with Kate Middleton, saying in 2010: “Because we’d had Will and Kate in our midst we had royal protection officers swarming the place.
“We knew that they had hit it off and we knew that something was happening, but they were just left alone to get on with it.”
Looking back on the moment Kate dazzled students at a St Andrew’s fashion show, he added:“It was the end of their first year. I was there, and in person there were a lot of attractive girls. She was in a very daring dress, in a sheer stocking-like dress. He was sitting front row and his eyes were like stalks.
“She brushed by him on the way to the catwalk and things were never the same again – the whole history of the monarchy had been altered.”
