The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were in for a shock when a dead body was found near Prince William and Kate Middleton’s Kensington Palace home. Independent U.K. reported on Monday, September 6, that a dead woman’s body was found at the Round Ponds in Kensington Garden, an area in front of William and Kate’s Kensington Palace estate in London. The couple live at the home with their three children: Prince George, 7, Princess Charlotte, 5, and Prince Louis, 2.
The body was found on August 29, a spokesperson confirmed to Sky News on Monday. “Police were called to Kensington Gardens W2 at 7.09am on Saturday, 29 August to a report of the concern for the safety of a woman,” the statement read. “The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The death is being treated as unexplained at this time, but is not thought to be suspicious. A post-mortem examination will take place in due course.”
According to Independent U.K., the Metropolitan Police misidentified the body at first and notified the wrong family that their relative had died. The body was misidentified as artist Endellion Lycett Green, the granddaughter of former poet laureate Sir John Betjeman. The police misidentified Green’s body after she had been missing for a week as the Metropolitan Police searched for her.
Body was determined to not be Green’s after she was found alive later that week. “My sister Endellion is alive, safe and well,” John Lycett Green, her brother, said in a message to friends, according to Independent U.K., before using his sister’s nickname, Delli. “Thank you all for the support and love you showed for Delli and her family.”
He continued, “Sorry to all of you that, like us, were grieving for the wonder that is Delli. We were told a body was found and was her. It was not, and Delli was found last night…RIP the soul that was found in Kensington Round Pond on Saturday morning.”
As of September 9, 2020, the body remains unidentified. “The death is being treated as unexplained at this time, but is not thought to be suspicious. Inquiries are ongoing,” a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police told Independent U.K.
According to Sky News, the Cambridges weren’t home when the body was found. They were vacationing at Balmoral, the Queen’s Scottish estate. Per Sky News, it’s unknown whether other royal family members, such as Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, who also live at the palace, were home when the body was discovered.