British socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson has been found dead aged 45 at her London home.

The TV personality and former 'It girl' had been diagnosed with a brain tumour last January after returning from a ski trip.

She also battled drug problems in the past, and suffered with an auto-immune disease that caused tiredness, joint pain and acute anaemia.

Palmer-Tomkinson, who was also a newspaper columnist, was close friends with Prince Charles and Camilla, attending their wedding in 2005.

Her father was a British Olympic skier who taught Prince Charles.

She was also among the guests at Prince William's wedding to Kate Middleton in 2011.

Reacting to the news of her death, Prince Charles and his wife said they were "deeply saddened and our thoughts are so much with the family".

Palmer-Tomkinson was a regular on the London party scene in the 1990s and had a high-profile social life, often appearing in society and celebrity magazines.

She finished second in the jungle TV show 'I'm A Celebrity' in 2002 and also featured in celebrity specials of 'Blind Date' and 'A Place in the Sun'.

In November, she revealed she was being treated for a non-malignant growth in her pituitary gland.

She expressed fears she would die after doctors told her she had the condition.

She told the Daily Mail: "I went to the doctors to talk about my latest blood test results when I got back from skiing in January.

"I said: 'What does this mean? Can you translate it?' And the doctor said: 'As I suspected, you have a brain tumour.'

"I got terribly frightened. I started thinking, 'I'm going to die, I'm going to die. I've only got a couple of weeks to live.' Stuff like that."

Police were called by the ambulance service at about 1.40pm to an address in Kensington.

They said: "A woman, aged in her 40s, was pronounced dead at the scene. Next of kin have been informed."

Officers said her death is being treated as unexplained, but they do not believe it is suspicious.