Former London socialite and goddaughter of the Prince of Wales, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, has been found dead at her London flat aged 45.

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall have said they are “deeply saddened and our thoughts are so much with the family”.

Palmer-Tomkinson had been battling a brain tumour discovered by doctors last January.

They found the tumour in her pituitary gland and further tests revealed she was suffering from a rare auto-immune condition.

A police spokesperson said: “Police were called by London Ambulance Service at approximately 13:40hrs on Wednesday, 8 February to an address in Bramham Gardens, SW5.

“A woman, aged in her 40s, was pronounced dead at the scene. Next of kin have been informed.

“The death is being treated as unexplained. At this early stage, police are not treating the death as suspicious.

“Enquiries into the circumstances are ongoing. The coroner has been informed.”

Palmer-Tomkinson expressed fears she would die after being told of her condition by doctors.

She told the Daily Mail: “I went to the doctors to talk about my latest blood test results when I got back from skiing in January. I said, ‘What does this mean? Can you translate it?’ And the doctor said, ‘As I suspected, you have a brain tumour’.

“I got terribly frightened. I started thinking, ‘I’m going to die, I’m going to die. I’ve only got a couple of weeks to live’. Stuff like that.”

At the time, Palmer-Tomkinson, who had battled drug problems in the past, also revealed that she was suffering with an auto-immune disease which had caused tiredness, joint pain and acute anaemia.

She appeared on reality TV series I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! in 2002 and came second, and took part in several other TV shows including celebrity specials of Blind Date and A Place In The Sun.

She was a regular on the London party scene in the 1990s and made headlines for her social life, frequently appearing in the pages of both society and celebrity magazines.