The married mother of two young sons, who often spoke of how she struggled to come to terms with her own mother’s death from a heroin overdose in 2000, was found by police at her house in Wrotham, Kent, at 1.35pm. Kent Police described the death as 'sudden' and 'unexplained'.
Peaches's heartbroken father Bob Geldof tonight led the tributes to his daughter who underwent a dramatic transformation from wild party child to earth mother over recent years.
Last tweet: Yesterday at 10.17am, Peaches tweeted a photo of her in the arms of her late mother, Paula Yates
'Writing 'was' destroys me afresh. What a beautiful child. How is this possible that we will not see her again? How is that bearable?
'We loved her and will cherish her forever. How sad that sentence is.
'Tom and her sons Astala and Phaedra will always belong in our family, fractured so often, but never broken. Bob, Jeanne, Fifi, Pixie and Tiger Geldof.'
Her last tweet was at 10.17am yesterday with a photograph of her and her late mother.
Today Sir Bob paid tribute to his 'beautiful child' Peaches and said 'we are beyond pain'
Close-knit family: Peaches, pictured here with her father Sir Bob in 2009 at Sir David Frost's garden party
'WHAT A BEAUTIFUL CHILD': GELDOF'S TRIBUTE TO DAUGHTER
Sir Bob Geldof has paid an emotional tribute to his daughter Peaches who has died today describing her as a 'beautiful child'.
Speaking minutes after her death was announced, Sir Bob released a heartbreaking statement on behalf of the family.
He said: 'Peaches has died. We are beyond pain.
'Writing 'was' destroys me afresh.
She was the wildest, funniest, cleverest, wittiest and the most bonkers of all of us.
'What a beautiful child. How is this possible that we will not see her again?
'How is that bearable? We loved her and will cherish her forever. How sad that sentence is.
'Tom and her sons Astala and Phaedra will always belong in our family, fractured so often, but never broken. Bob, Jeanne, Fifi, Pixie and Tiger Geldof.'
Speaking minutes after her death was announced, Sir Bob released a heartbreaking statement on behalf of the family.
He said: 'Peaches has died. We are beyond pain.
'Writing 'was' destroys me afresh.
She was the wildest, funniest, cleverest, wittiest and the most bonkers of all of us.
'What a beautiful child. How is this possible that we will not see her again?
'How is that bearable? We loved her and will cherish her forever. How sad that sentence is.
'Tom and her sons Astala and Phaedra will always belong in our family, fractured so often, but never broken. Bob, Jeanne, Fifi, Pixie and Tiger Geldof.'
She was last seen at the F+F fashion show in London last Thursday evening.
A spokesman for Kent Police said: 'Police were called to an address in Wrotham, Kent, following reports concerning the welfare of a 25-year-old woman.
'The woman was pronounced dead at the scene by South East Coast Ambulance Service.
'At this stage the death is being treated as unexplained and sudden. They are now working to establish the circumstances surrounding the death.'
Peaches was the second daughter of Bob Geldof and Paula Yates and the granddaughter of Hughie Green. Her sisters are Fifi Trixibelle Geldof and Pixie Geldof. She also has a younger half-sister, Tiger Lily Hutchence Geldof.
Miss Geldof – a one-time model and journalist - leaves behind two sons, Astala Dylan Willow, 23 months, and Phaedra Bloom Forever, who is almost a year old.
Phaedra was born on April 24, 2013, which would have been the 54th birthday of her mother.
She was married to Thomas Cohen, lead singer of the South East London band S.C.U.M.
She previously married rock musician Max Drummey. The pair separated in 2009.
Peaches spoke in her last interview of how she owed her life to her children and said: ‘I am not about to let them down, not for anyone or anything.’
She said that becoming a mother had healed a ‘rudderless and troubled’ childhood, and that she wanted everyone to know parenthood was ‘the best thing you’ve ever done’.
The interview, less than a month before her death today, with Mother & Baby magazine was centred on ‘attachment parenting’ – keeping her two sons with her virtually all the time.
Peaches said she had cried with exhaustion and says that becoming a mother had ‘broken’ her.
She told how her own experience of attachment parenting from her nanny before the divorce of her mother Paula and father Bob ‘saved me from losing it’.
Family: She leaves behind two sons Astala Dylan Willow, 23 months, and Phaedra Bloom Forever, 11 months
She was married to rock singer Thomas Cohen, pictured here with their sons in November 2013
She described ‘attachment parenting’ as responding to a baby's needs and building bonds through closeness and trust. And she said she received a great deal of help from Sue Cohen, mother of her husband, Tom.
‘Becoming a mother was like becoming me, finally,’ she said.
‘After years of struggling to know myself, feeling lost at sea, rudderless and troubled, having babies through which to correct the multiple mistakes of my own traumatic childhood was beyond healing.
‘I felt finally anchored in place, with lives that literally depend on me, and I am not about to let them down, not for anyone or anything.’
She had admitted she never really got over her parents' very public divorce in 1996, which became notoriously bitter, or her mother Paula's death just four years later in 2000.
She said: 'I remember the day my mother died, and it’s still hard to talk about it. I just blocked it out. I went to school the next day because my father’s mentality was "keep calm and carry on".
'So we all went to school and tried to act as if nothing had happened. But it had happened. I didn’t grieve. I didn’t cry at her funeral. I couldn’t express anything because I was just numb to it all. I didn’t start grieving for my mother properly until I was maybe 16.'
At the scene: She was pronounced dead by South East Ambulance Service at her home in Wrotham today
Police, medics, and forensics arrived at the property in Kent, South East England, at 1.35pm today
HOW MOTHERHOOD TRANSFORMED A PARTY GIRL INTO AN EARTH MOTHER
If there was a celebrity party in London, at one time you could have guaranteed Peaches Geldof would be there.
The self-proclaimed party girl admitted that she never imagined she would be a mother by the age of 25, let alone one that went to bed by 8pm every night.
In June 2011, an inquest heard how Peaches' name appeared in the diary of 18-year-old Freddy McConnel, who died of a drug overdose.
The inquest heard how just a few months before his death, he wrote: 'Peaches is coming over later and I am going to inject for the first time. Perhaps I will die. I hope I don’t.'
She insisted she did not go to his flat on the night recorded in his diary.
But after having her two sons, the former London socialite happily admitted that her outlook on life and priorities had changed.
Following the birth of her first son Astala and marriage to her childhood friend and S.C.U.M singer Thomas 'Tom' Cohen in 2012, Peaches reinvented herself as an earth mother and outspoken journalist.
Speaking after his birth, she told Elle magazine: 'His birth was like a rebirth for me, and I honestly never thought anything in my life would ever be good. I’m obsessed with getting it right.
'The second I held him it was like this missing piece of my life being put into place; everything started to heal.'
She added: 'The very worst thing that happened to me started with my parents’ divorce, it really affected the rest of my life.
'Even if it’s an archaic idea I want Astala to have a mummy and daddy together for ever. It’s a commitment. I want to be a good wife, a good mother, a good person.'
She then had a second son, called Phaedra, with Cohen in April 2013.
The star said her offspring had given her stability after she struggled for many years to come to terms with her mother Paula's fatal overdose in 2000.
Peaches and her husband were also passionate advocates of 'attachment parenting' which promotes skin-to-skin contact with babies and young children and sleeping in the same bed.
Peaches admitted the style of parenting led to the couple sleeping in separate beds.
Originally the family all slept together in a large 9ft bed until Phaedra starting waking up in the middle of the night.
Then Peaches slept with Phaedra while Tom stayed with Astala.
The TV presenter said: 'It's not that great for our intimate life. It sounds really sad but it'll only be until Phaedra stops crying in the night.'
She continued: 'I'm in bed by 8pm nearly every night. This is not what I thought I'd be doing three years ago when I was the poster girl for partying in London.
'Before I was like an Iron Lady, very cynical. Now, I'm the soft, cheesy pizza lady. I feel like I grew up a lot when I had the children. it healed many things in me that were painful.'
The self-proclaimed party girl admitted that she never imagined she would be a mother by the age of 25, let alone one that went to bed by 8pm every night.
In June 2011, an inquest heard how Peaches' name appeared in the diary of 18-year-old Freddy McConnel, who died of a drug overdose.
The inquest heard how just a few months before his death, he wrote: 'Peaches is coming over later and I am going to inject for the first time. Perhaps I will die. I hope I don’t.'
She insisted she did not go to his flat on the night recorded in his diary.
But after having her two sons, the former London socialite happily admitted that her outlook on life and priorities had changed.
Following the birth of her first son Astala and marriage to her childhood friend and S.C.U.M singer Thomas 'Tom' Cohen in 2012, Peaches reinvented herself as an earth mother and outspoken journalist.
Speaking after his birth, she told Elle magazine: 'His birth was like a rebirth for me, and I honestly never thought anything in my life would ever be good. I’m obsessed with getting it right.
'The second I held him it was like this missing piece of my life being put into place; everything started to heal.'
She added: 'The very worst thing that happened to me started with my parents’ divorce, it really affected the rest of my life.
'Even if it’s an archaic idea I want Astala to have a mummy and daddy together for ever. It’s a commitment. I want to be a good wife, a good mother, a good person.'
She then had a second son, called Phaedra, with Cohen in April 2013.
The star said her offspring had given her stability after she struggled for many years to come to terms with her mother Paula's fatal overdose in 2000.
Peaches and her husband were also passionate advocates of 'attachment parenting' which promotes skin-to-skin contact with babies and young children and sleeping in the same bed.
Peaches admitted the style of parenting led to the couple sleeping in separate beds.
Originally the family all slept together in a large 9ft bed until Phaedra starting waking up in the middle of the night.
Then Peaches slept with Phaedra while Tom stayed with Astala.
The TV presenter said: 'It's not that great for our intimate life. It sounds really sad but it'll only be until Phaedra stops crying in the night.'
She continued: 'I'm in bed by 8pm nearly every night. This is not what I thought I'd be doing three years ago when I was the poster girl for partying in London.
'Before I was like an Iron Lady, very cynical. Now, I'm the soft, cheesy pizza lady. I feel like I grew up a lot when I had the children. it healed many things in me that were painful.'
She told the magazine: 'The transition of my mother who was amazing, who wrote books on parenting, who gave us this idyllic childhood in Kent; and who then turned into this heartbroken shell of a woman who was just medicating to get through the day.
'On top of that, there was my father who was very embittered and depressed about it and for us children, an environment that was impossible, veering between a week with my mother that was complete chaos, and then with my father, which was almost Dickensian – homework, dinner, bed – because he was trying in his own way to combat what was going on at my mother’s.'
Hutchence was found hanged in a hotel room in Sydney in 1997. Three years later Miss Yates died from an accidental heroin overdose.
Peaches went through a period of heavy drinking and taking drugs as a teenager, but said the memory of her own mother's overdose stopped her from spiralling out of control.
She admitted: 'I did experiment with drugs, I did get drunk and go to parties, but I was never that wild. I could have been, I could have let myself spiral but all the time I remembered what happened to my mum.'
Peaches, who lived her whole life under the media spotlight, faced allegations of shoplifting and drug taking during her partying heyday.
At just 19, she married musician Max Drummey in Las Vegas after a whirlwind romance. The pair split up six months later.
Peaches appeared to be following in her mother's destructive footsteps but turned over a new leaf when she married S.C.U.M singer Thomas Cohen in September 2012 at the same church in Davington where her parents married 26 years earlier.
Peaches underwent a further transformation following the birth of her first son Astala in April 2012 and appeared to immediately take to motherhood.
Speaking after his birth, she said: 'His birth was like a rebirth for me, and I honestly never thought anything in my life would ever be good. I’m obsessed with getting it right.
'The second I held him it was like this missing piece of my life being put into place; everything started to heal.'
She added: 'The very worst thing that happened to me started with my parents’ divorce, it really affected the rest of my life.
'Even if it’s an archaic idea I want Astala to have a mummy and daddy together for ever. It’s a commitment. I want to be a good wife, a good mother, a good person.'
She then had a second son, called Phaedra, with Cohen in April 2013.
Peaches then came into her own, becoming a well-known TV pundit and writer.
A few weeks before her death, Peaches had expressed concern that her home in Kent may be haunted.
The socialite shared a photo of herself and son Astala in the bath in December which appeared to show a translucent hand to the side of her neck.
She wrote next to the picture: 'And no that isn't my hand - one of mine was round his waist to hold him during the photo, the other holding the camera to take the shot. Also the hand is around my shoulder so totally weird angle if I did it myself. How terrifying!! (sic)'.
Peaches posted the spooky selfie on Instagram and told how she believed the hand belonged to the spirit of a woman who committed suicide nearly 100 years ago after delivering a stillborn baby.
She said: 'The house was built in the 1920s by a rich man and his pregnant wife.
'However, his wife had a stillborn baby and was so grief-stricken she went mad. She apparently drowned herself in the bath.'
Peaches claimed she often felt a ghostly presence in the house - but said it was a welcoming one rather than threatening.
She added: 'The presence I feel isn't malignant or angry, rather maternal and friendly - the house has a lovely atmosphere.
'Maybe she's just making her presence known because she loves having babies around.'
Three weeks ago she also uploaded an image of a book she was called Magick: In Theory and Practice by Aleister Crowley.
He was an early 20th century writer and magician, who wrote about mysticism and paranormal beliefs.
Peaches even started to leave her door open when she slept at night in case the 'ghost comes back'.
This picture, taken at F&F fashion show on Thursday, is believed to be the last time Peaches was seen
Haunted house concerns: Peaches Geldof posted
this picture of herself with her son Astala in the bath in December -
with a ghostly hand apparently visible to the side of her neck
Paranormal
activity is clearly an interest to Peaches, who went on her own ghost
hunting expedition with BBC Radio 1's Aled Jones for her short-lived TV
series OMG! With Peaches Geldof.Peaches, who loved sharing images of her day-to-day life on Instagram and Twitter, also told her followers she was reading William Todd Schultz's Torment Saint: The Life of Elliot Smith.
The book is based on the musician, who died in 2003 of stab wounds following a battle with drug addiction.
Following his death a coroner could not say conclusively whether the wounds were self-inflicted and his fans have contested the circtumstances of his death ever since.
In June 2011, an inquest heard how Peaches' name appeared in the diary of an 18-year-old boy who died of a drug overdose.
Freddy McConnel had been found dead at his flat in London just two weeks earlier.
The inquest heard how just a few months before his death, he wrote: 'Peaches is coming over later and I am going to inject for the first time. Perhaps I will die. I hope I don’t.'
Freddy had formed a friendship with the then 22-year-old Peaches in the months before his death.
At that time, Peaches had long been linked to drugs.
In May 2008, she was questioned but not charged after being seen offering a drug pusher up to £190. Two months later, she was treated by paramedics after an overdose and was believed to have stopped breathing for several minutes until she was revived.
In August 2008, she admitted she took drugs, but insisted: ‘It’s something people go through in their lives, especially growing up in London.’
She later said the memory of her mother's overdose stop her from 'spiralling out of control'.
She insisted she did not go to his flat on the night recorded in his diary.
Fifi Trixibelle Geldof, Bob Geldof, Tiger Lilly Geldof, Pixie Geldof and Peaches Geldof arrive at an event in 2005
'Rest in peace gorgeous girl': Lily Allen leads celebrity tributes
As news of the tragedy spread across social media platform Twitter, Lily Allen wrote: ‘My thoughts are with the Geldof’s at this awful time. I hope they get to grieve in peace. Peaches, rest in peace gorgeous girl.’Ellie Goulding, echoed the feelings of many by reacting to the news with stunned disbelief, simply writing: ‘I don’t believe it,' before adding: 'Even if you think you've got it all figured out, some things still can't be explained or understood. Two beautiful children. RIP Peaches.'
Elsewhere former Made In Chelsea star wrote: ‘So sad and shocked to hear peaches Geldof has died.’
Rest in peace gorgeous girl: Lily Allen shared her thoughts shortly after news of Peaches' death broke
Disbelief: Danielle O'Hara shares her shock after hearing the devastating news
Stunned: This Morning co-host Phillip Schofield reacts to the news on Monday evening
Former cast-mate Harry Derbidge added: ‘So sad to hear the news about Peaches Geldof, terrible and shocking. RIP. Thinking of the Geldof family at this horrible time. Xxx.’
Amy Childs, Harry’s cousin, also tweeted her thoughts as the news broke, writing: ‘Such tragic news about Peaches Geldof… RIP #devastating.’
Lauren Goodger, another former TOWIE star, wrote: ‘OMG RIP Peaches Geldof .. I’m in shock.. my thoughts and love goes out to her family.’
A stunned Coleen Rooney wrote: ‘Can’t believe what I have just heard. RIP Peaches Geldof, such sad news.’
God bless: TV presenter Myleene Klass joined the tributes to Peaches Geldof
Rest in peace: Amy's cousin and former co-star Harry Derbidge also tweeted
Awful: Jessica Wright, another TOWIE star, shared her sadness after hearing of Peaches' sudden death
In shock: Former Big Brother star Imogen Thomas vented her thoughts on the micro-blogging site
Stunned: Former Made In Chelsea star tweeted shortly after the news broke on Monday
Heartbreaking: Actress Helen Flanagan opens up on Twitter after hearing of Peaches' death
Tragic: Former TOWIE star Amy Childs was amongst those who shared their thoughts as the news broke on Monday
Rapper Professor Green told fans on Twitter: 'never knew Peaches but the loss of a life so young is a horrible thing, especially leaving behind two children.'
This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield tweeted: 'Utterly stunned at the terrible news of the death of Peaches Geldof! The dreadful loss of a really lovely woman.'
Denise Van Outen tweeted: 'OMG Peaches Geldof. Such shocking news. Thoughts are with her family and close friends. This is such tragic news #RIP'
Sadie Frost has paid tribute
Reality TV star Rylan Clark has also paid tribute to the star
Coronation Street star Michelle Keegan also expressed her sympathy
TOWIE's Lucy Watson took to Twitter after learning of the news
Music mogul Simon Cowell also posted about the star
Imogen Thomas tweeted: 'So so sad :-( I just can't believe this news.. I'm in shock. Her poor little boys, her family....#RIPPeachesGeldof.'
Alexandra Burke said: 'I can't believe Peaches has passed away..in feel so numb. I've never met anyone so kind before. She was a beautiful person.'
Has the tragedy of Paula Yates repeated with the untimely death of her daughter Peaches aged just 25?
- Paula Yates died of a heroin overdose aged just 41 in 2000
- Peaches was just 11 when mother was found at her Notting Hill home
- Had three children with Bob Geldof, who she married in 1986
- Also had Tiger Lily with Michael Hutchence, who died of an overdose in 1997
Peaches, who was found dead at her home today, was just 11-years old when her mother tragically died after a heorin overdose.
Miss Yates, a TV presenter who had three children with Bob Geldof, had completed a stint at the Priory Clinic and was believed to have 'overcome' her drug problem, but a coroner said she fell victim to a 'foolish and incautious' binge.
Paula Yates and Bob Geldof married in 1986. They
are pictured here in 1989. Peaches is pictured left behind her mother,
Paula Yates, and Michael Hutchence, with home she had Tiger Lily (in her
arms)
Couple: Miss Yates, who was 41 when she died of a
heroin overdose, met Peaches' father Bob when he was the frontman of
Boomtown Rats
The last adult to see her alive was a former heroin addict she had met during her time in rehab, but her four-year-old daughter Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily, whose father Michael Hutchence died just three years before, was alone with her when she passed away.
It seemed she had never recovered from the death of the INXS frontman in 1997.
Bob Geldof, the father of Yates's first children, then took the orphaned child into his home, so she could be brought up with her two half-sisters.
Paula Yates pictured with Peaches at Disney Castle a few years before she died in September 2000
Paula Yates with boyfriend, pop star Michael Hutchenece and Peaches at Versace fashion show, Milan, 1997
She met Mr Hutchence in 1985 during a TV interview the lead singer of rock band INXS. On the morning of 22 November 1997, Hutchence was found dead in his hotel room in Sydney.
Miss Yates, who was in London at the time, was informed of the tragic death by her friend Belinda Brewin.
The couple's daughter was placed in Geldof's custody with her half-sisters.
Following her death coroner, Paul Knapman, said the amount she snorted would not have killed an addict, but as an 'unsophisticated taker of heroin', Miss Yates had no tolerance to the drug.
DN
No comments:
Post a Comment