200 marieclaire.com.au
Clockwise from far left:
Tara went to all the best
parties, pictured here in
2008; skiing at Klosters;
greeting family friend
Prince Charles; at the
polo with her mum and
sister; arriving at Prince
William’s wedding.seriously in life. I’ve seen it, worn it,
bought the T-shirt ... ”
Seven years later, in February 2017,
the tabloids are at her again – for the
very last time. Now the obituary is lit-
eral: Tara Palmer-Tomkinson is dead at- At 21 she was
christened the English
“It girl” of her genera-
tion by Tatler maga-
zine. Now she has left
the party for good.
The UK tabloid
reaction was predicta-
bly sensational. She’d
“told a friend weeks
before her death: every day I want
drugs”, claimed the Sunday Express,
while The Sun went with: “Remember-
ing TPT ... drug overdoses, a failed
music career and the search for
love that always eluded her.” But
Palmer-Tomkinson wasn’t just fodder
for the UK press, she was a human
being who left behind a grieving family.
At the private funeral in Hamp-
shire, her sister Santa Montefiore read
the eulogy. “I always wanted to look
after you and I tried, I really tried.
I hope they are looking after you now
in heaven and that you are letting them,
and that you heal. Most of all, my dear-
est Tara, I hope you know that we love
you, with all our hearts, we really do.”
She was more than just an out-of-
control party girl who sold a lot
of newspapers in the ’90s. She was
a bright spark, who made her friends
laugh until they cried, a fabulous
story-teller and piano player. She was
human, and sometimes
she struggled to hold it all
together. When that hap-
pened she could rely on
the presence of an aggres-
sive press pack, hounding
her mercilessly through
the low points without
care for her wellbeing.
The tale of TPT –
like those of Princess Diana, Amy
Winehouse and countless other tragic
British headline-makers – is a caution-
ary one. When asked how she felt
about being the centre of attention,
Palmer-Tomkinson once said: “Who
wouldn’t want to be famous?” The
more sensible question is, who would?
Tara was born in December 1971,
the youngest child of blue-blooded
Olympic skier Charles Palmer-
Tomkinson and his Argentinian
socialite wife Patricia. They already
had a son, James, and daughter, Santa,
who would grow up to be a renowned
novelist. Their upbringing was privi-
leged, built around ponies, boarding
school and skiing holidays. The familyhad friends in high places. Prince
Charles and Princess Diana came to
stay at their house in Hampshire when
Tara was 15. Two years later, Patricia
was very badly injured in an avalanche
in Swiss ski town Klosters. The Prince,
also in their party, was injured and his
equerry, Major Lindsay, lost his life.
“My secure world was rocked,”
Santa told The Guardian years later.
“I was at school with Tara when the
story broke – and the news at that stage
was that [Mum] was about to have her
legs amputated. Then they said two
women had been killed. Thankfully,
none of this was true, although my
mother was severely injured and
remained in hospital in Switzerland for
four months.” Santa was the sensible
sibling, very sporty. James was athletic
too (today he runs a ski-holiday
company). Tara was the naughty one.
“While I was head of house, vice head
of school and played lacrosse for Eng-
land,” said Santa, “[Tara] was smoking
behind the bike sheds or hanging out
with all the handsome boys.”B
y the time she turned
18, Palmer-Tomkinson was a
fresh-faced and frocked-up
regular in the social pages
with her friend and partner in crime
Tamara Beckwith. Their adventuresHer adventures
provided the
perfect glam
antidote to
’90s grunge