Prince William’s university friend dies in 100ft hotel fall

Ben Duncan seemed to have all the ingredients of a charmed life: a valuable property portfolio, influential friends stretching from London’s party circuit to the Royal Family, and the glamorous lifestyle of a well-connected man about town.

The 45-year-old lived in a stylish Pimlico apartment and built a successful television career, bringing invitations to a steady stream of high-profile champagne receptions and celebrity events.

Mr Duncan had known Prince William and Kate Middleton during his time at St Andrews University. His appearance on Big Brother later became the springboard for a career in the media.

Yet his death last October, after he fell 100ft from the rooftop of London’s Trafalgar St James hotel, came as little surprise to some of those closest to him. Mr Duncan had reportedly been battling depression for some time.

After his death, he was often remembered as the life and soul of every gathering. Behind that sociable image, however, his mental health had been worsening, particularly after several friends died within a short period.

As the immediate shock of his death subsided, trustees examining his estate discovered that his wealth was far more modest than many might have assumed. Once debts and expenses had been cleared, just £90,000 remained.

The £90,000 represented the final value of Mr Duncan’s estate. It was left entirely to his mother after an initial gross value of £220,000 was reduced by outstanding debts and administration costs.

Although £90,000 would still be a substantial amount for many people, the figure highlighted how much less financially secure he was than he appeared to the influential figures with whom he socialised. His circle included politician-turned-broadcaster Michael Portillo, renowned socialite Nicky Haslam and, before his recent public disgrace, US ambassador Peter Mandelson.

The privately educated television personality, who became friends with the future royal couple at St Andrews between 2001 and 2005, had grown increasingly anxious about money. Property investments in Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle had failed to deliver the returns he expected.

Several unsuccessful investments had placed additional pressure on his finances. He was also said to have been frustrated by the direction of his career and, more broadly, by the state of the country.

Mike Hollingsworth, the veteran broadcaster, provided an insight into Mr Duncan’s state of mind during the months before his death. The pair were exceptionally close, with Mr Duncan describing him as a second father.

Mr Hollingsworth felt the same affection, calling Ben “another son”. 

He told Our News Outlet: “I think Ben was slightly naive when it came to owning property. And I think he probably invested rather badly, and that was what was troubling him at the time of his death.

“He had a lot of property in the north, and he lived in London. So he had to trust other people to look after it and I think that troubled him a lot because he kept getting calls from people telling him he needed to pay for various things.

“I got the idea that he wished he hadn’t gone into property. It just wasn’t his shtick. He wasn’t a business-minded individual. He was very creative and very fond of people, but not so fond of the business life.”

The retired broadcaster, 80, who was formerly married to breakfast television presenter Anne Diamond, formed a close bond with Mr Duncan after they met in 2010. He later became his agent.

And just ten days before his death he received a call from Mr Duncan, who told him he was feeling suicidal and wanted to say goodbye.

Mr Hollingsworth rushed to his hotel and ‘talked him out of it’ – but it plainly wasn’t a permanent fix. Ben would be found dead just ten days later.

Mr Hollingsworth, who also represented other TV presenters including Kirsty Young and Donal MacIntyre, said Ben’s fear of ageing had contributed to his depression and in his final years he struggled with insomnia and became increasingly reclusive.

He went on: ‘He was a Peter Pan figure and I think it depressed him to be getting older. He was young at heart. When he died he was 45 but people would think he was in his 30s.

‘It was the feeling of getting older that troubled him. He had the most magnificent head of hair but he was worried in the morning when he would comb it and hair would come out.

‘That was a sign of ageing but whenever you met him he looked the same as when you last saw him, he never seemed to age.’

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But his body was catching up with him and he found sleeping increasingly challenging.

‘He found it very difficult to get up in the morning.

‘There was a joke that was made at his funeral,’ said Mr Hollingsworth. ‘That it was probably the first time he arrived anywhere on time’.

Mr Duncan also felt increasingly dissatisfied with his career, his friend explained.

He first gained public attention in 2010 after appearing on Channel 4’s Big Brother where he was depicted as ‘posh’ in contrast to Bristol-born Josie Gibson, who went on to win the show.

Mr Duncan also appeared on numerous reality shows including Celebrity Coach Trip, Come Dine With Me and ITV’s Ladette To Lady, and later presented a number of programmes including More Than A Mistress.

While at St Andrews he was present at the famous moment when Kate Middleton dazzled as a model in a university fashion show, famously credited for capturing William’s attention.

And he was seen as an authority on the British Royal Family by international broadcasters who were enthralled by his accent and supposedly upper class charm.

Mr Duncan was consequently hired to broadcast on royal weddings and funerals for foreign audiences.

But he found television opportunities in the UK were increasingly harder to come by.

‘People perceived him as a posh boy and a man about Mayfair,’ said Mr Hollingsworth. ‘But the posh boy voice slightly worked against him in ordinary life.

‘His Oxbridge pronunciation didn’t quite suit broadcasting these days and that really got to him because there were fewer jobs.

‘His voice probably deceived a lot of people as to how he might respond to them. He made lots of friends in all sorts of different walks of life. One time he saw a woman sleeping on the street and made room for her in his flat. He was that sort of person.

‘I think he could have done an awful lot more on television. He would light up a room with his personality, was hugely versed in politics and was extremely well read. I think he could have been a Jacob Rees-Mogg sort of figure.’

Mr Duncan’s accent was far from the only characteristic he shared with the Conservative MP. He was also a passionate Brexiteer and tried to become a Tory election candidate.

He told friends he was fed up with the state of the country and was depressed at how Brexit wasn’t working as well as he had hoped.

Mr Hollingsworth added: ‘He was very unhappy at the way the country had gone. I think he would rather have been born much earlier because he was a perfect individual for the 1950s or 1960s and that’s why he associated with a lot of older people, because he liked to talk about how life used to be.’

Mr Duncan was upset at what he perceived as Britain’s desertion of the Commonwealth and campaigned for closer ties with former colonies.

His financial career and political frustrations were compounded by the death of a number of friends in the years before his own.

He was very attached to Dame Jilly Cooper, the famous ‘bonkbuster’ author, and they frequently wrote long letters to each other.

She died just three weeks before Mr Duncan.

As well as the emotional damage, their deaths also reminded him he was getting older himself, it’s believed.

Mr Duncan fell to his death from the rooftop bar of the five-star hotel on October 30 last year.

On Monday his family interred his ashes next to where his late father is buried. An inquest into his death will begin on December 8.