Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall have paid tribute to socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson who was found dead at her London home on Wednesday (8 February).

The Prince of Wales – who was the It Girl's godfather – and the Duchess of Cornwall have said they are "deeply saddened" following reports of her death, adding "our thoughts are so much with the family".

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A close family friend of the royals, Palmer-Tomkinson often joined them on skiing trips and was also a guest at Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding.

As news of her death broke, social media erupted with messages of sympathy and sadness as the 45-year-old's celebrity friends took to social media to express their shock at her passing and to pay their respects.

Grant Harrold, a former Butler to Princes Charles and Princes William and Harry paid his respects, writing: "I am deeply shocked & saddened to hear Tara Palmer-Tomkinson has died. I was lucky enough to have met her and know her family. A lovely Lady."

Tara's best friend and Blue singer, Duncan James wrote: "Heartbroken and numb I have lost one of my oldest and dearest friends. I'm going to miss ur laughter the most shmooey . Rip sweetheart."

Former Culture Club singer Boy George wrote: "Sorry we have lost Tara. R.I.P. She was a sweet complicated soul!"

Singer Alexandra Burke wrote: "What a sad day. RIP TPT. I will never forget how warm and loving you were every time I saw you. Such a beautiful soul. Sad sad news..."

Commenting on her larger-than-life persona, Rufus Hound exclaimed: "Bl**dy hell. TPT. An icon of nineties hedonism. What a shame."

Musician Brian McFadden wrote: "RIP TPT very sad news. You were a real character and will be sadly missed xx."

Palmer-Tomkinson – also know as TPT – made quite an impression on the public as a star of reality TV shows such as I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here! Her fellow contestants Darren Day and Tony Blackburn who competed on the same series, were among those who turned to social media to share their sadness at her sudden loss.

Day wrote: "I'm so sad to hear that Tara Palmer-Tomkinson has passed away. Thoughts and love to her family RIP Tara x."

Tony Blackburn added: "Very sad news about Tara Palmer-Tomkinson. She was such a sweet person and Taken too soon. R.I.P."

Former I'm A Celeb co-star actor Colin Salmon shared his memories of meeting her writing that he "will never forget her kindness at my first 'posh' do. She was so gracious & made me feel so welcome. RIP sweet lady."

I'm A Celebrity hosts Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly tweeted: "So very sad to hear of the passing of TP-T. She was a true one off with a huge, generous heart. Our thoughts are with her family."

Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan who had interviewed the well-known IT girl tweeted: "RIP Tara Palmer Tomkinson, 45. A fun, feisty woman who battled many demons. Very sad news."

Tara Palmer-Tompkinson
British socialite actress Tara Palmer-Tomkinson was found dead at her London apartment Max Nash/AFP

In November, Palmer-Tomkinson had revealed that she had been receiving treatment for a non-malignant growth in her pituitary gland.

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."

She said she decided to open up about her condition to put an end to the rumours once and for all. "I've carried this secret for a year. I wanted to deal with my illness privately but there have been so many rumours flying around.

She began receiving treatment in January and the tumour was successfully reduced.

Police today confirmed they were called to an address in South Kensington at 1.40pm on Wednesday. They said the 45-year-old's death was being treated as "unexplained" but police are not treating the death as suspicious Evening Standard reports.