Big Brother star and friend of Prince William, Ben Duncan, left a huge fortune after he tragically fell 100 feet to his death from the balcony of a rooftop bar
A friend of Prince William’s who appeared on Big Brother left a staggering fortune after his death. Ben Duncan died aged 45 last year after falling 100feet from a balcony of a rooftop bar.
Ben, who appeared on the 11th series of the show in 2010, died without making a will. The High Court subsequently granted letters of administration to his mum, Monica Duncan, of Frome, Somerset, in the summer this year – meaning she has control of his estate.
Documents show that Ben’s estate was valued at £218,450, later reduced to £91,683. This is due to deductions for debt repayment and expenses.
Ben, who met the Prince of Wales and Kate, Princess of Wales while studying at St Andrews University in Scotland, was said to be part of their “inner circle”. He died after falling from the rooftop of a seven-story building in the West End of London.
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The Metropolitan Police were dispatched to the Trafalgar St James hotel after reports of a “man on the roof” were received at the hotel, which has rooms that can go for £1,000 per night.
But he is thought to have fallen from the rooftop bar, which has high plastic screens around its edges as a safety feature, before they arrived.
At the time, the force said: “Officers responded to concerns for a man on the roof of a building in Cockspur Street, Westminster at 23:02 hours on Thursday, 30 October. 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.” A London Ambulance service spokesperson said that they were called to the scene but were unable to save Duncan. “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. 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.”
Ben had been living in a flat in Pimlico, central London, just a stone’s throw away from the Houses of Parliament. Aside from his connection to the future King and Queen, Ben was also friends with disgraced Lord Peter Mandelson, as well as Michael Portillo and designer Nicky Haslam.
Speaking previously about Prince William and the moment he saw the then Kate Middleton in a sheer dress at a university fashion show, Ben said: “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.”
Aside from appearing on Big Brother, of which he left the house on day 52, he later appeared on Come Dine With Me, Ladette to Lady and Celebrity Coach Trip. An inquest into his death is set to be opened later this year.
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