Tara Claire Palmer-Tomkinson (23 December 1971 – 8 February 2017) also known as T P-T, was an English socialite, television personality, model and charity patron. 

She appeared in several television shows, including reality programme I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. In January 2016, she was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

She died on 8 February 2017.

Early life

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson was born in Hampshire on 23 December 1971. Her parents were Charles and Patricia (née Dawson) Palmer-Tomkinson. Her father represented Great Britain as a skier at the 1964 Winter Olympics. Her sister is Santa Montefiore, a writer.

She was educated at Sherborne School for Girls in Dorset. After she left school, she worked briefly in the City of London for Rothschilds bank.

Writing career

In the mid to late 1990s, a weekly column for The Sunday Times appeared under her name. However, this was actually ghostwritten by author Wendy Holden based on Palmer-Tomkinson's "phoned in description of her activities during the preceding week." She subsequently similarly "contributed" to The Spectator, The Mail on Sunday, GQ, Eve, Harpers and Queen, Tatler, InStyle and The Observer sporadically.

In September 2007, her book The Naughty Girl's Guide to Life, co-authored with Sharon Marshall, was published by Sphere. It was serialised in The Sunday Times Style magazine.

In October 2010, her first novel, Inheritance, was published by Pan Books. However, this also was ghostwritten.

In 2012, her second novel, Infidelity, was published by Pan Books.

Television appearances

In 2002, Palmer-Tomkinson made an appearance on the British television series I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, finishing as runner up. In November 2005, Palmer-Tomkinson presented her third behind the scenes series on ITV2 for the hit show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! Now.

Palmer-Tomkinson's presenting credits included Animals Do the Funniest things with Tony Blackburn, Junior Eurovision, The British Comedy Awards...Party On, What Kids Really Think, Popworld, Top of the Pops, SM:TV Live, Company Magazine Bachelor of the Year, Dumb Britain, Extreme, a role as a team captain on Bognor or Bust which was hosted by Angus Deayton and work for GMTV, Five, LBC radio, the music channel The Hits and the Living TV programme Dirty Cows.

Palmer-Tomkinson was a contestant on Comic Relief Does Fame Academy for the BBC.[20] She gave away tickets to see her compete in the show to "ordinary people" who had helped her out (the other contestants generally giving their free tickets to other celebrities). She invited the policeman who found her stolen car, the locksmith who helped when she was locked out of her house and her parents' local shopkeepers.

Other work

Palmer-Tomkinson played the piano, as was demonstrated at events at the Queen Elizabeth Hall with the National Symphony Orchestra, at the Royal Albert Hall, and at The Coliseum during a Leonard Bernstein Tribute. She hosted the Classic FM Gramophone Awards in 2005. She wrote a pop song called "5 Seconds" which she performed on Loose Women.

From 2013 to 2014, she was patron of Scottish charity Speur Ghlan, which delivers early intervention for young children diagnosed with autism or developmental delays. The appointment garnered media attention for having been facilitated through social media.

Personal life

Palmer-Tomkinson's family have a close relationship with the British royal family. Charles, Prince of Wales was her godfather, and she attended his wedding to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall as well as the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

In 2004, Paul Harvey's painting of Palmer-Tomkinson was exhibited in The Stuckists Punk Victorian show at the Walker Art Gallery for the Liverpool Biennial.

Palmer-Tomkinson struggled with an addiction to cocaine in her early career. In 1999, she appeared on The Frank Skinner Show, slurring her words and forgetting the host's name.[3] In 2006, she received extensive publicity after her nasal septum collapsed due to her cocaine addiction. Pictures were printed in several British tabloids. She underwent cosmetic surgery to have it rebuilt. Some sources claim the surgery was carried out by cranio-facial surgeon Martin Kelly (d.2008), the husband of actress Natascha McElhone.

On 22 December 2014, Palmer-Tomkinson was arrested at Heathrow Airport. This followed her reaction to being refused access to a first-class lounge. Following her arrest, she said that a panic attack triggered her behaviour. She stated: "I wasn't drunk, there was no disorderly. I was cautioned, I saw a doctor, they were nice to me", before flying to Switzerland to celebrate her 43rd birthday.

In January 2016, Palmer-Tomkinson was diagnosed with a prolactinoma, a benign tumor (adenoma) of the pituitary gland, and announced her illness publicly in November of that year. Prolactinomas are non-malignant, and treatment was successful. She also suffered from ANCA Associated Vasculitis. She never married or had children.

Death

On 8 February 2017, Palmer-Tomkinson was found dead at her home in London. The death was treated as unexplained but not suspicious. Tara Palmer-Tomkinson revealed her funeral plans in interview weeks before death :

http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/tara-palmer-tomkinson-revealed-what-9796055#ICID=sharebar_twitter

Bibliography

Novels

• Inheritance (2010) ISBN 9780330513265
• Infidelity (2012) ISBN 9780330513333

Other books

• The Naughty Girl's Guide To Life (2007) (written with Sharon Marshall) ISBN 9780751539974