The party-loving ex-wife of millionaire banker Nat Rothschild, Annabelle Neilson, has died at the age of 49.

The onetime model turned Ladies Of London reality star died on Thursday, with police confirming an ambulance had been called to her £3.1million ($4.1million) home in Chelsea, London. The death is not being treated as suspicious, police told DailyMail.com.

Annabelle was a great friend of cover girl Kate Moss and also close to the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen, after becoming his muse aged just 22.

The last person to see McQueen alive, she was left devastated by his death.

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Tragic friends: Alexander McQueen's best friend Annabelle Neilson has passed away aged 49; the two are seen in 2009

'He was my brother, my boyfriend, my soulmate. Most of the time people called me Mrs McQueen. Quite often we were sharing a bed,' she told the Daily Mail in 2015.

'The truth is I was happier with Lee than with anyone else. He asked me to marry him towards the end and I said no. I wish now that I had said yes.'

A British aristocrat, Annabelle shocked high society when she eloped to Las Vegas with Nat Rothschild in 1994.

Rothschild is the only son and heir of banker Jacob Rothschild, and is in line to become the fifth Baron Rothschild and inherit around £500million on his father's death.

The last picture: Annabelle is seen with Alice Temperley, Kimi Hammerstroem and Kate Mossat the wedding of her ex-boyfriend, Lord Edward Spencer-Churchill at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire last week

Exes: Annabelle divorced Nat Rothschild (right) in 1997 and she reportedly received a generous financial settlement in return for rescinding the dynastic name and signing a confidentiality agreement. She later dated Edward Spencer Churchill, the Duke Of Marlborough's half-brother; the two are pictured right in 2008

The former couple met on a beach in India, and a close family friend told the Daily Mail at the time of their divorce that Rothschild's parents had been 'appalled' by their then 23-year-old son's 'vulgar' choice of wife.

After just three years of marriage, marked by hard-partying and cataclysmic rows, the couple split and Annabelle reportedly received a generous financial settlement in return for rescinding the dynastic name and signing a confidentiality agreement.

Rothschild reportedly went on to date Natalie Portman and Ivanka Trump, before marrying a topless model, Loretta Basey, two years ago.

Annabelle went on to date Edward Spencer Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough's half-brother, with the exes remaining close after their break-up.

Indeed the last picture of Annabelle was taken at his marriage last week, held at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. She posed happily alongside her friend Kate Moss in the image.

Reality star: The late model is pictured in Spain on June 17, in a picture from her Instagram

On the small screen: She starred in two seasons of Bravo's Ladies of London from 2014 to 2015

While her ex-husband's parents were not pleased by their son's choice of wife, Annabelle was in fact very well connected - her paternal grandmother was a second cousin of the late Queen Mother.

The brunette beauty was the daughter of Elizabeth, the Marquesa Campus di Santinelli, while her first cousin was the Earl of Warwick. As a young girl Annabelle enjoyed play dates at Warwick Castle.

Growing up, she divided her time between the family’s country estate – Chiltern House in The Chilterns – and a home in West London.

However despite her gilded upbringing, Annabelle's childhood was far from easy. Severely dyslexic, she was badly bullied at her exclusive private school and left at 16 without any qualifications.

She headed to Australia to stay with family friends, but while there was the victim of a horrific assault. Her attacker, later convicted of killing three women, tied her to a tree and beat her for two hours, leaving her in need of reconstructive surgery.

Left depressed, she was a heroin addict by the time she turned 16. She managed to get herself off hard drugs, but said they helped her survive the brutal experience.

'In a way, heroin saved me because otherwise I would have killed myself,' she told the Daily Mail.

Famous friends: The former model is pictured with Sadie Frost and Kate Moss back in 2015

Model royalty: With Kate and Naomi Campbell in 2010 at the Relief Haiti London show

Tall, beautiful and well connected, the young brunette turned to modelling - a decision which changed the course of her life.

It was her work as a muse for McQueen that put Annabelle on the fashion map, after they met when she was just 22.

They were introduced by the late Tatler fashion editor Isabella Blow, who was then the muse of celebrated milliner Philip Treacy.

'Issie brought me to Lee as a model. She presented me to him as his new girl. Lee loved me immediately and it felt like we knew each other straight away,' Annabelle told the Daily Mail in 2015.

'We were so alike. He was also dyslexic; he mirrored me in so many ways.'

High society: Annabelle with Meg Mathews, John Galliano and Vanessa Perander in 2000 at a Vogue party in Monte Carlo

Party life: With designer friends Galliano and McQueen in 2000

Brit pack: With Sophie Dahl and Orlando Bloom in 1998 in Mayfair, London

Indeed it was while working for McQueen in the early 1990s that Annabelle met Kate and Naomi.

Annabelle explained: 'Kate is my best mate and I love her like a sister. Yes, she’s an icon but to me she’s just Kate.

'We fight over stupid things, then we kiss and make up. We share clothes, we share everything and her fame has never been an issue.

'She always looks out for me and I look out for her. We’ve got each other’s backs. I’m very proud of her and she’s very proud of me.'

Long struggle: Severely dyslexic, Annabelle relaunched herself as a children's author two years ago, publishing a series of books, The Me Me Me's; she is seen in 2015

In later life Annabelle starred in the U.S. reality show Ladies Of London for two seasons, from 2014 to 2015.

She used the series as a way to relaunch herself as a children's author two years ago, publishing a series of books, The Me Me Me's.

The show chronicled her life in London, including a devastating horse accident, which left her with multiple broken injuries, including a broken back and pelvis.

While recovering Annabelle was cared for by her parents at their home off the Kings Road in Chelsea, West London.

Speaking at the family home on Monday, Annabelle's father Max told Mail Online:' I am sorry but I can't help you. Thank you for calling.'

Fans flocked to Instagram to pay tribute to Annabelle. An Instagram picture of a swimming pool was posted to her account the day following her death, presumably a pre-scheduled post.

Tragic socialite Annabelle Neilson in her own words THE SOCIALITE, MODEL AND REALITY TV STAR - WHO WAS BEST FRIENDS WITH KATE MOSS, EX WIFE OF BANKER NAT ROTHSCHILD AND MUSE OF THE LATE ALEXANDER MCQUEEN - GAVE A WIDE-RANGING INTERVIEW TO THE DAILY MAIL IN 2015. HERE, SHE DESCRIBES THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF HER COLORFUL LIFE. On best friend Alexander [Lee] McQueen, whom she met in the early 1990s while modeling. Annabelle with 'soul mate' Alexander 'Lee' McQueen in 2009 ‘Issie [late Tatler fashion editor Isabella Blow] brought me to Lee as a model. She presented me to him as his new girl. Lee loved me immediately and it felt like we knew each other straight away. 'We were so alike. He was also dyslexic; he mirrored me in so many ways. ‘I remember our first shoot together when Lee had made me this exquisite torn lace navy dress that fitted perfectly. 'When it turned up on the day of the shoot he’d sprayed it silver and it had shrunk. I had to be gaffer-taped into it.’ ‘He was my brother, my boyfriend, my soulmate. Most of the time people called me Mrs McQueen. Quite often we were sharing a bed.’ 'The truth is I was happier with Lee than with anyone else. He asked me to marry him towards the end and I said no. I wish now that I had said yes.’ On being part of the infamous Primrose Hill set with Kate Moss, where all-night parties at Noel Gallagher and Meg Mathews’ Supernova Heights mansion were the norm. Annabelle with 'bestie' Kate Moss in 2015 ‘I don’t know why I’m always called a wild child because I wasn’t a child at the time. 'The truth is I’ve lived an amazing life. I was working with Lee [Alexander McQueen], Kate, Naomi and [John] Galliano. 'It was a big time in my life and it was great fun. I was working with beautiful creative people.’ ‘Kate is my best mate and I love her like a sister. Yes, she’s an icon but to me she’s just Kate. 'We fight over stupid things, then we kiss and make up. We share clothes, we share everything and her fame has never been an issue. 'She always looks out for me and I look out for her. We’ve got each other’s backs. On getting together with Nat Rothschild, scion of the banking dynasty and the future fifth Baron Rothschild. (Their marriage broke down three years later in the Dominican Republic, a turn of events Annabelle was legally not allowed to talk about.) ‘Nat and I had been together for four years and I was 26 when I married him. He first asked me to marry him half an hour after we met and then every day afterwards. Finally, we decided to do it.’ On how a gap year attack by a man who later went on to kill three women in Australia lead her heroin addiction at 16. ‘The attack lasted for two hours. I was tied to a tree and continually beaten. I looked like the elephant girl by the end of it. ‘I managed to escape with my life but I needed reconstructive surgery because my face was so disfigured. 'After that, I fell into a serious depression and became a heroin addict because it provided an escape bubble and was the only way I could cope. 'In a way, heroin saved me because otherwise I would have killed myself.’ On being thrown from the saddle of her racehorse while galloping around a training track in Sussex in June 2013. She endured a long recovery and the accident left her with chronic pain. The equestrian broke her back and pelvis after being thrown from her racehorse in 2013 ‘I remember seeing the glint of a silver car and the horse getting spooked and jumping. 'The next second I was flat on my back in the mud,’ she recalled. ‘The pain was horrendous and I started having convulsions. Worst of all, I couldn’t move my legs and I thought, “This is it, I’m paralysed.”’ ‘I was lying on the hospital bed with a broken back and pelvis. I just said to myself, “You have to get up,” so I did. 'The nerves down my right leg and hip were very badly damaged, but I got up, with help, and discharged myself. 'The pain was so bad, but I was scared that if I didn’t get up there and then I might never walk again.’ Advertisement



