Tara Palmer-Tomkinson's final days – found by cleaner and tearful last tweet

Former I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! star Tara Palmer-Tomkinson died at the age of 45 and her tragic final days were marked by a final tweet and public outing

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, a socialite and TV personality known for her secret acts of kindness, scandalous life, and numerous ups and downs, passed away eight years ago today.

The former I'm a Celebrity.... Get Me Out of Here! star was discovered dead in her London flat on February 8, 2017, at the age of 45.

In January 2016, she was diagnosed with a prolactinoma, a non-cancerous tumour of the pituitary gland, and she publicly announced her illness in November of that year.

Her death was deemed unexplained but not suspicious, and her sister, Santa Montefiore, later informed the media that the cause of death was a perforated ulcer and peritonitis.

Tara was discovered dead in her London flat on February 8, 2017, at the age of 45(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)

During her final days, Tara, her brother James, and sister Santa joined their parents Charles and Patti to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary in India before Christmas in 2016, just weeks before her death.

She then travelled to Thailand, where she found herself caught up in the New Year floods on the resort island of Koh Samui. The floods in the southern part of the country claimed 36 lives, with hospitals, airports, and highways being shut down.

One of Tara's final messages to the world, made on January 8, 2017, shared her dreadful journey home. "I'm home!" she exclaimed in a tweet.

"The floods, disruptions in Koh Samui, beyond horrendous. What I witnessed, experienced at the airport, disruption, chaos, trauma."

She noted that despite the chaos, everyone was trying their hardest to get travellers back home. Tara added: "It was so emotionally overwhelming the kindness of everyone helping everyone, in my prayers r with those still stuck x."

Tara celebrated her parents' wedding anniversary in her final days(Image: Silverhub/REX/Shutterstock)

Tara's very last update on Twitter, now known as X, came shortly after, detailing her return from Thailand. On January 11, 2017, she reached out to her fans to say she had cast her vote in the National Television Awards.

Following the news of her passing, her final tweet became a space where admirers left their tributes.

Tara, who was familiar with the Royal Family, was last seen publicly mere weeks before news of her death surfaced. Caught on camera on January 25, 2017, she was seen outside her London apartment donning wedges, form-fitting skinny jeans, and a stylish navy coat atop a vibrant stripy jumper.

Her golden hair fell freely and she sported sunglasses against the low winter sun.

Emergency service were called to her property(Image: DAILY MIRROR)

Cops were baffled by Tara's mysterious demise, labelling it as "unexplained". However, a team of builders grafting in the same block as Tara's gaff spilled that they copped a "very loud bang" days before she was found dead.

The lads, who were doing a number on the flat beneath Tara's, said they got an earful of the ruckus on February 3, five days ahead of her death hitting the headlines. One of the tradesmen dished to The Sun: "We'd hear her walking around up there. But last Friday we heard a very loud bang in the afternoon - like someone or something falling over. We hadn't seen her or heard her since then."

Tara was known for her larger than life personality(Image: WireImage)

It was Tara's cleaner that stumbled upon her motionless form. The Portuguese employee, in her 30s, sounded the alarm when she rocked up to the west London pad and her sobs were overheard by builders below. The crew, who'd been revamping the joint since September, said the cleaner would come twice a week.

"We could hear her walking around upstairs last week," one revealed. "She was cleaning. We could hear hoovering. It was the cleaner who found her. She was crying and it was stone-dead silent before she rocked up and set off the alarm." After she made the 999 call, several paramedics arrive and three police cars.

A neighbour who used to see the former model and it girl on the reg revealed that she hadn't clocked eyes on Tara in five whole weeks. The unnamed lady commented at the time: "I last saw her five weeks ago, but she looked lovely. I would see her sometimes in the corner shop. She liked to tell people they looked amazing, that was her thing. It's very sad."

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