A university friend of Prince William and Princess Kate has died after falling over 100 feet from a rooftop bar at a West End hotel.
Ben Duncan was at St Andrews University with the heir to the throne, and was friends with William and Kate when they started dating.
The 45-year-old died late on Thursday evening after falling seven floors from the rooftop bar of London’s Trafalgar St James hotel.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: “Officers responded to concerns for a man on the roof of a building in Cockspur Street, Westminster at 23:02 hours on Thursday, October 30.
Ben Duncan went to university with William and Kate but has died ages 45 in a tragic fall
|
GETTY
“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.”
He had appeared in numerous TV shows and became a media personality on shows like Big Brother.
Mr Duncan had shared a close connection with the Waleses and was one of the first to know about their relationship.
In November 2010, he said: “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.
“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.
Ben Duncan was within William and Kate’s inner circle whilst at St Andrews University
|
GETTY
“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.”
After graduating, he was seen on Come Dine With Me, Big Brother, Ladette to Lady, and Celebrity Coach Trip.
Ben Duncan fell while at the rooftop bar at the Trafalgar St James Hotel
|
GETTY
A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We were called at 10:59pm on Thursday 30 October to reports of an incident on Spring Gardens, City of Westminster.
“We sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, an incident response officer, paramedics in fast response cars and paramedics from our hazardous area response team (HART).
“We also dispatched a trauma team in a car from London’s Air Ambulance.
“Very sadly, despite the best efforts of our crews, a man was pronounced dead at the scene.”