Ben Duncan seemed to be living an enviable life, surrounded by a valuable property portfolio, high-profile friends and the kind of glamorous social circle that extended from London’s party circuit to the Royal Family.
The 45-year-old made his home in a stylish Pimlico apartment and built a successful career in television. That work brought regular invitations to lavish champagne receptions and exclusive events, where he was a familiar figure.
While studying at St Andrews University, Duncan became acquainted with Prince William and Kate Middleton. His later appearance on Big Brother in 2010 helped propel him into the world of television and celebrity.
Yet when Duncan died last October after falling from the rooftop of London’s five-star Trafalgar St James hotel, those closest to him said the tragedy did not come entirely without warning. He had been battling depression for some time.
Following his death, Duncan was widely remembered as the person who brought energy and laughter to any gathering. Behind that outgoing public image, however, his mental health had worsened, especially after several friends died within a relatively short period.
The true state of his finances also emerged only after his death, when the trustees handling his estate reviewed his assets and liabilities. Once his debts had been cleared, the wealth he left behind amounted to just £90,000.
Ben Duncan is pictured with Davina McCall after leaving the Big Brother house in 2010. He had been an associate of Prince William and Kate Middleton at St Andrews University.
Although Duncan appeared to lead a privileged life filled with opportunity, his closest friend told the Daily Mail that he had become depressed, grieving the loss of several friends and feeling increasingly unhappy about his finances and career.
Duncan died after falling from the rooftop bar of the Trafalgar St James hotel, where rooms can cost as much as £1,000 a night, on October 30 last year.
His body was reportedly discovered in Spring Gardens, just off Trafalgar Square, after he fell from the roof of the seven-storey building.
The £90,000 represented the final value of Duncan’s estate and was left entirely to his mother. The figure had fallen from an initial gross total of £220,000 after outstanding debts, costs and other expenses were deducted.
Although £90,000 would still be a substantial amount for many people, the sum highlighted how far Duncan’s financial reality differed from the impression created by his glamorous social life. Among those in his circle were politician-turned-broadcaster Michael Portillo, celebrated socialite Nicky Haslam and, before his later public disgrace, US ambassador Peter Mandelson.
The privately educated television personality, who attended St Andrews between 2001 and 2005, had grown increasingly anxious about money. Property investments in Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle had failed to deliver the returns he expected.
A series of unsuccessful investments placed further pressure on Duncan, while he was also said to be frustrated by the direction of his career and disillusioned with the wider state of the country.
One of the people who saw most clearly how Duncan was feeling in the months before his death was veteran broadcaster Mike Hollingsworth. The pair were exceptionally close, with Duncan describing Hollingsworth as a second father.
Hollingsworth felt the same affection, referring to Duncan as “another son”.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said Duncan had been “slightly naive” about property ownership and may have made poor investment decisions that later weighed heavily on him.
Duncan owned several properties in northern England while living in London, meaning he relied on others to manage them. Hollingsworth said the constant requests for money to cover repairs and other costs had become a major source of anxiety.
“I got the idea that he wished he hadn’t gone into property,” Hollingsworth said. “It just wasn’t his shtick. He wasn’t a business-minded individual. He was very creative and very fond of people, but not so fond of the business life.”
Hollingsworth, now 80 and formerly married to breakfast television presenter Anne Diamond, met Duncan in 2010. Their friendship deepened over the years, and he eventually took on the role of Duncan’s agent.
And just ten days before his death he received a call from Mr Duncan, who told him he was feeling suicidal and wanted to say goodbye.
Mr Hollingsworth rushed to his hotel and ‘talked him out of it’ – but it plainly wasn’t a permanent fix. Ben would be found dead just ten days later.
Mr Hollingsworth, who also represented other TV presenters including Kirsty Young and Donal MacIntyre, said Ben’s fear of ageing had contributed to his depression and in his final years he struggled with insomnia and became increasingly reclusive.
Duncan described the veteran broadcaster Mike Hollingsworth (pictured together in 2015) as his second father and Mr Hollingsworth described him as ‘another son’
He went on: ‘He was a Peter Pan figure and I think it depressed him to be getting older. He was young at heart. When he died he was 45 but people would think he was in his 30s.
‘It was the feeling of getting older that troubled him. He had the most magnificent head of hair but he was worried in the morning when he would comb it and hair would come out.
‘That was a sign of ageing but whenever you met him he looked the same as when you last saw him, he never seemed to age.’
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But his body was catching up with him and he found sleeping increasingly challenging.
‘He found it very difficult to get up in the morning.
‘There was a joke that was made at his funeral,’ said Mr Hollingsworth. ‘That it was probably the first time he arrived anywhere on time’.
Mr Duncan also felt increasingly dissatisfied with his career, his friend explained.
He first gained public attention in 2010 after appearing on Channel 4’s Big Brother where he was depicted as ‘posh’ in contrast to Bristol-born Josie Gibson, who went on to win the show.
Mr Duncan also appeared on numerous reality shows including Celebrity Coach Trip, Come Dine With Me and ITV’s Ladette To Lady, and later presented a number of programmes including More Than A Mistress.
While at St Andrews he was present at the famous moment when Kate Middleton dazzled as a model in a university fashion show, famously credited for capturing William’s attention.
And he was seen as an authority on the British Royal Family by international broadcasters who were enthralled by his accent and supposedly upper class charm.
Mr Duncan was consequently hired to broadcast on royal weddings and funerals for foreign audiences.
But he found television opportunities in the UK were increasingly harder to come by.
‘People perceived him as a posh boy and a man about Mayfair,’ said Mr Hollingsworth. ‘But the posh boy voice slightly worked against him in ordinary life.
‘His Oxbridge pronunciation didn’t quite suit broadcasting these days and that really got to him because there were fewer jobs.
‘His voice probably deceived a lot of people as to how he might respond to them. He made lots of friends in all sorts of different walks of life. One time he saw a woman sleeping on the street and made room for her in his flat. He was that sort of person.
‘I think he could have done an awful lot more on television. He would light up a room with his personality, was hugely versed in politics and was extremely well read. I think he could have been a Jacob Rees-Mogg sort of figure.’
Mr Duncan’s accent was far from the only characteristic he shared with the Conservative MP. He was also a passionate Brexiteer and tried to become a Tory election candidate.
He told friends he was fed up with the state of the country and was depressed at how Brexit wasn’t working as well as he had hoped.
Mr Hollingsworth added: ‘He was very unhappy at the way the country had gone. I think he would rather have been born much earlier because he was a perfect individual for the 1950s or 1960s and that’s why he associated with a lot of older people, because he liked to talk about how life used to be.’
Mr Duncan was upset at what he perceived as Britain’s desertion of the Commonwealth and campaigned for closer ties with former colonies.
His financial career and political frustrations were compounded by the death of a number of friends in the years before his own.
He was very attached to Dame Jilly Cooper, the famous ‘bonkbuster’ author, and they frequently wrote long letters to each other.
The Trafalgar St James hotel reopened in 2017 with a high-profile launch attended by Laura Whitmore, Nick Grimshaw and Millie Mackintosh
The rooftop has views of Nelson’s Column and Trafalgar Square, making it popular for tourists
Its rooftop bar where Duncan fell has high plastic screens around its edges as a safety feature
She died just three weeks before Mr Duncan.
As well as the emotional damage, their deaths also reminded him he was getting older himself, it’s believed.
Mr Duncan fell to his death from the rooftop bar of the five-star hotel on October 30 last year.
On Monday his family interred his ashes next to where his late father is buried. An inquest into his death will begin on December 8.