Tragic Tara Palmer-Tomkinson predicted her own early death - and said she didn't fear it

The tragic socialite and TV star, painfully thin and herself battling a brain tumour, said she did not fear dying.Tara Palmer Tomkinson predicted her own early death

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson clutched the hand of a sick pal in hospital and made the starkest of comments.
The tragic socialite and TV star, painfully thin and herself battling a brain tumour, said she did not fear dying.
It was just weeks ago. As her pal Kirsty Shaw-Rayner lay recovering following a lifesaving operation, Tara then predicted her own early death, saying calmly: “It comes to all of us – I’ve accepted that.”
The 45-year-old, who was found dead at home last Wednesday, also told how she was seeing a spiritualist and reading the poetry of John Keats.
Tara, who battled drug addiction for years, had visited Kirsty – who runs an events company – in intensive care at London’s Prince Grace Hospital.Tara said she didn't fear dying
She selflessly helped nurse Kirsty, 43, back to health despite being left tormented by her own problems.
Tara, looking frail and having not eaten for days, put on a brave face as she tried to lift her pal’s spirits.
A source told the Sunday Mirror: “Tara hadn’t spoken to Kirsty for a long time but she came to see her when she knew how ill she was.Tara Palmer Tomkinson with Jason Gardiner and Kirsty Shaw Rayner
“The visit was completely unexpected. She was by her bedside trying to cheer Kirsty up.
But Tara didn’t look well at all, she was very, very skinny and there was clearly something not right but she was being incredibly brave and putting others before herself.
“There was only one moment when she was talking about her life and she said: ‘Death comes to all of us, I’ve accepted that. It’s all about the journey you choose to take. That’s the only thing you can control’.Tara Palmer Tomkinson greeting Prince Charles
“Tara was very concerned and worried about things, but she didn’t go on about her own problems. That was what she was like, very selfless. She was tired of being the victim.
“She didn’t want to be a burden to pals so she turned to alternative therapists and in the last couple of months she was in touch with a spiritual healer and a pyschic.
“Towards the end she had a lot of self hate and anxiety. She got it into her head that people had been using her.
“Everyone wanted to be part of the Tara party and when she realised some people were using her, that was very harsh. Kirsty Shaw Rayner
The realisation she was growing up hit her hard. She didn’t get married or have children, which was very sad. She was turning to these therapies for support.”
The source also revealed how poetry had been a source of comfort for the TV star in her final months – and how she would quote her favourite poem Ode To Pysche.
In his 1819 sonnet Keats imagines that he has seen the winged goddess Psyche in the arms of Cupid, the god of love.
In the ode, Keats vows to build a temple to Psyche in his mind. He writes: “Yes, I will be thy priest, and build a fane, In some untrodden region of my mind.”John Keats was a source of comfort to Tara
The source said: “Tara avidly read poetry and found a lot of solace in it.”
Friends and family were still coming to terms with the death of Tara.
Her body was discovered by her cleaner at her beloved penthouse flat in Earls Court, West London. A death notice posted by her family told how “Tara Clare died ­peacefully in her sleep”.
Her close friend, TV presenter Mark Durden-Smith, admitted that acts of kindness – like she had shown to Kirsty – came very naturally to the star.Janet Street-Porter pays tribute to Tara Palmer-Tomkinson
Tara knew Kirsty for more than 10 years and looked on top form as she was pictured at a bash alongside her and Dancing On Ice judge Jason Gardiner.
TV pal Mark worked with Tara on three series of the I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here spin-off show – as well the 2003 Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
He told the Sunday Mirror: “She was incredibly generous, she took a few wrong turns along the way but she ultimately lived a thousand lives in one.
“However fleeting a moment you had with Tara she left the deepest of ­impressions because she was an extraordinary life force. Tara's friends say she was an extraordinary life force
"She bought everyone very thoughtful presents at the end of the series. That was the kind of thing she did.”
It emerged Tara had wept during her final interview as she told of her longing to make her family proud following years of drug abuse.
Referring to a spell in rehab for her cocaine addiction, Tara said: “I’ve put them through a lot.”
The addiction led to the collapse of her nasal septum, which needed initial ­corrective surgery in 2006.Tara had previously spent time in rehab
She returned to rehab in 2011 for anxiety and depression. But her pal Mark, who has been in contact with her family, revealed they are incredibly proud of Tara.
He said: “She is very different from her family but they loved her dearly. They are completely brokenhearted.”
Meanwhile, the Sunday Mirror understands the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge knew she was suffering and that they had kept in touch.
The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are expected to go to the funeral.Tara Palmer Tomkinson
Charles and Camilla said they were “deeply saddened” by Tara’s death, adding: “Our thoughts are so much with the family.”
The friend added: “The Royal Family all come together when something is going on.
"Tara would see Kate and Wills at events but they didn’t socialise much outside of that. They knew she was struggling though, most people did.”
Tara’s family and the royals had bonded on the slopes of the Alps, with her father Charles teaching the Prince of Wales to ski. Tara's home, where she was found dead
She would return to Switzerland with the royals repeatedly, providing support to young princes William and Harry after the death of their mother, Princess Diana.
In her final interview Tara was asked what her order of service would be like at her funeral.
She said: “I want a simple service, a positive eulogy and meaningful readings.”
During the same chat she said Noel Harrison’s song The Windmills Of Your Mind moved her to tears and cited a poem written by George Frost in tribute to his late father, broadcaster Sir David Frost.
Quoting the 2014 poem, she recited: “For my darling children, who wonder what to do, Just have a wonderful time, as I will, living through you.”
And speaking two weeks before her death she said she would like to be remembered “like a Bernese mountain dog – cheerful, beautiful and loved by all.”