Like Paula, she longed to be loved, a perfect mother... and thin: Aside from pregnancy, Peaches Geldof's weight loss worried family friends

• Mother-of-two, 25, found dead yesterday at her home in Wrotham, Kent
• Right up until her death, she never stopped striving to achieve perfection
• House in country, worth nearly £1million, was modelled on family home
• She had golden retriever, Parpy, which reminded her of childhood dog
• And she had her two sons, Astala, 23 months, and Phaedra, 11 months
• Mystery continues to surround what happened in Peaches's final hours
• Family friends say they worried about her weight loss and self-esteem

Right up until her tragic death, Peaches Geldof never stopped striving to achieve her vision of perfection.
She had the house in the country, worth nearly £1 million, bought on her earnings as one of the new breed of media blondes.
It was modelled on the home in Faversham, Kent, where she had spent weekends with her mother Paula Yates and father Bob Geldof as a child.

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Devoted: Peaches and her boys, Astala Dylan Willow(right), 23 months, and Phaedra Bloom Forever, 11 months

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Poignant: Peaches is pictured with mother, Paula Yates, who also longed to be loved, a perfect mother and thin

She had her cream Aga — a pride and joy. Her golden retriever Parpy reminded her of her childhood dog Flossie. Earlier this year she bought a Newfoundland puppy, Bogwot, which she delightedly said looked like a ‘small bear’.
And then, of course, there were her two sons, Astala (whom she called Narny) 23 months, and Phaedra (Phaedy) 11 months, to whom she was an utterly devoted mother.

 

In her final magazine column, earlier this year, Miss Geldof said her two young sons had made her ‘happier than ever’.

Now that seemingly idyllic existence is under intense scrutiny as mystery continues to surround what happened in her final hours.

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Stark contrast: Peaches shows off a curvy figure on holiday with friends in the U.S. in 2010 (left), but is pounds lighter a year later (right). The model and journalist was found dead at her home in Wrotham, Kent, on Monday

As the death is described as unexplained, it would imply that neither drugs nor a suicide note were found, as these would offer possible explanations as to how she died.
However, Kent Police, who say a post mortem examination will be carried out today, will not confirm what was discovered at the house after they responded to a report of ‘concern for the welfare of a woman’ on Monday.
Yesterday, her older sister Fifi posted a photograph of her and Peaches as young girls on social media site Instagram, with the message: ‘My beautiful baby sister . . . Gone but never forgotten. I love you, Peaches x.’

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Blooming to alarmingly slender: Peaches is pictured pregnant with Phaedra in January 2013 (left), and, right, as a shadow of her former self in February 2014. Her death has been described as unexplained by police

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Modelled on her family home: Peaches had a house in the country, worth nearly £1million, bought on her earnings as one of the new breed of media blondes. Above, forensic officers are pictured outside the property

And in a heart-breaking tribute, her 62-year-old father has said he was ‘beyond pain’ on learning of the death of his daughter, who was the ‘wildest, funniest, cleverest, wittiest and the most bonkers of all of us’.
Peaches commented on her life incessantly on social media sites as she seemed to crave the approval of strangers in the online world to bolster a fragile self-image.
Throughout the day, even several times an hour, she would Tweet a picture or a short video clip shot on her phone.
‘It was all a way of her crying: “Love me, love me, love me!” ’ said Gerry Agar, a close family friend yesterday.

‘Peaches had such terrible self-esteem issues, just as her mum did, and you could see that in the social media'

Gerry Agar, close family friend

 

‘Peaches had such terrible self-esteem issues, just as her mum did, and you could see that in the social media.’
This Twitter-mania brought fringe benefits, too. Peaches frequently received freebies, accepted in return for favourable mentions on Twitter.
Everything from make-up and shoes to items of furniture were sent to her on the understanding that Peaches would mention the brand to her thousands of Twitter followers. Indeed, her little sons had new wardrobes of designer clothes thanks to such contacts.
The resourceful Peaches was the family breadwinner, working as a freelance TV presenter — for example, reporting fashion trends from the red carpet at shows such as the Baftas and the NME and Brit music awards. Just a few days ago, she appeared at a show for the Tesco clothing line Florence and Fred.

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Happier times: Peaches is pictured with her husband, Thomas Cohen, and sons Astala (right) and Phaedra

All of these appearances were for a fee and bolstered the family finances. Her husband Thomas Cohen, a singer, has recently been looking for work following the break-up of his punk-rock band S.C.U.M.
Peaches’s portfolio career of small jobs was similar to the one her mother had. Paula Yates wrote books and appeared on TV shows such as The Tube and the Big Breakfast.
Peaches’s last job was filming a TV show with her pet dog for Sports Relief, where the crew said she was friendly, but apparently frail.
Juggling media work with two tiny children inevitably put her under considerable strain. She complained on Twitter of ‘waging a neverending war against dirty nappies’. Indeed, she followed the practice of ‘attachment parenting’ (which believes a child’s development is enhanced by being kept close to its parents).

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Tragic: Peaches's portfolio career of small jobs was similar to the one her mother had. Above Peaches Geldof is cradled as a baby in her mother Paula Yates' arms as her father Sir Bob Geldof and sister Fifi look on in 1989

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Happy family: Peaches is seen here holding her father Sir Bob Geldof's hand at EuroDisney in April 1992

For example, Peaches would rush to pick her babies up as soon as they cried and put them to sleep in her own bed — even if it meant she barely slept.
She would wearily post pictures online of Phaedra playing outside on a tractor at 6am or tell her followers that she was up for a third or even fourth time in the night.
Some friends suggested that she found country life lonely as her husband spent much time in London with his band-mates.
A few months ago, she hinted that all was not well.
Posting a photograph from their 2012 wedding on the image-sharing site Instagram in February she wrote: ‘Here’s one for my sweet husband!! Love you Weg sorry I am annoying sometimes. Brownie and Hoof forever.’ (Weg, Brownie and Hoof being nicknames for her husband and sons.)

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Tribute: Yesterday, her older sister Fifi posted a photograph of her and Peaches as young girls on social media site Instagram, with the message: 'My beautiful baby sister.. Gone but never forgotten. I love you, Peaches x'

Heartbroken: Bob Geldof's eldest daughter shared her heartbreak over the death of her younger sister

It is believed Tom was visiting his parents in South-East London with the two boys when she died.
Those close to her are perplexed by her death, which the police say is still unexplained. They can’t believe that such a mother could have even considered leaving her children behind, particularly after the trauma caused by the death of her own mother.
Her friend Danielle Nay, an events manager, said Peaches had appeared utterly content. ‘The role of her life, as radiant wife, mum and domestic goddess, brought her immense happiness and peace,’ she said.
Danielle, who planned Peaches’s wedding, added: ‘I’ll never forget how beautiful she looked that day. She and Tom shared — and communicated to friends and family — a deep, true, love that was a joy to behold. Everyone could see this was a clear-cut case of happily-ever-after.’

‘I was worried about her weight loss. You could see that she was struggling with self-esteem issues — just as Paula did. She even had fillers in her lips just like Paula did at the end of her life'

Gerry Agar

 

But, sadly, it was never to be.
Gerry Agar was as shocked as anyone at Peaches’s death and says she feared she was suffering from an eating disorder.
‘I was worried about her weight loss. You could see that she was struggling with self-esteem issues — just as Paula did. She even had fillers in her lips just like Paula did at the end of her life.’
Gerry said that people have spoken of ‘synchronicities’ between Peaches and Paula because they ‘both did drugs’.
But she explains: ‘It was the eating issues that they really had in common. Paula was very, very badly anorexic, and it was really only when she was first with Michael [Hutchence, the Australian musician who she left Geldof for] that she loved herself enough to stop.’
It was feared she was bulimic, too. Gerry continues: ‘I remember Bob Geldof once told me that he used to help her to take care of her teeth because all of the vomiting made them really bad.
‘Peaches lost such a lot of weight and then talked in interviews about going on juice-only diets.’

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In love: Peaches's friend Danielle Hay said the love the model and her husband shared was 'a joy to behold'

She added: ‘I remember very well Paula’s efforts to lose weight after Tiger (her fourth daughter) was born were extreme. She was determined to drop the ‘baby weight’ — and she lived on nothing, literally just a brussels sprout a day.’
So did Peaches share her mother’s damaging dieting habits?
She talked about going on juicing fasts for up to a month in 2011 to try to drop weight quickly. More recently, she had said that, like Kate Middleton, she had suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum (a severe form of morning sickness) when pregnant with Astala.
She had actually lost a huge amount of weight during the pregnancy. She then said she had developed a ‘thyroid issue’ while pregnant with her second child.

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'Attachment parenting': Peaches would rush to pick her babies up as soon as they cried and put them to sleep in her own bed ¿ even if it meant she barely slept. Above, Peaches posted this image of her son on Instagram

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Cute photo: She also posted this image on Instagram, captioned 'Walkin' and a Rollin''

Later Peaches said it was not a problem because it meant she eat whatever she wanted, she didn’t need medication and didn’t gain any weight.
She said told another interviewer: ‘Having babies makes me thin.’
In pictures taken in her final days, however, she looks alarmingly slender. Her eyes were hollow and her upper arms worryingly pinched.
Gerry Agar said: ‘What has happened has brought back so many memories of losing Paula. I was really happy to watch her blossoming into a wonderful mother, wife, happy with her lot, but now there’s a pattern of tragedy unfolding.

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Mother: Family friend Gerry Agar said that people have spoken of 'synchronicities' between Peaches and Paula (pictured) because they 'both did drugs'

A beautiful girl of 25 has died, two little boys have lost their mother.’ And, just as Paula had her dark side — it was drug and alcohol addiction which killed her — so did Peaches.
She was fascinated by death, by ghosts and by the occult.
The same young mother who took such a delight in pictures of her rosy-cheeked boys playing among daffodils also found the writings of the English satanist Aleister Crowley ‘super-interesting’ and believed that her home was haunted by the ghost of a woman who killed herself following a stillbirth.
She had been interested in Ordo Templi Orientis, the cult founded by Crowley, for six years, and went so far as to have an ‘OTO’ tattoo on her arm. She bought many books about mysticism and OTO history. Members of Crowley’s cult, with the motto Do What Thou Wilt, have in the past endorsed orgies and the use of drugs.
Peaches, of course, has her own history with drugs. She reportedly took an overdose in 2009 but hit out at the ‘sick’ people who said she was following in her mother’s footsteps.
She said: ‘It’s like a Peaches Geldof watch: “I wonder if she’s going to die like her mum. let’s count the days until she dies like her mum.” ’
Apparently her father was encouraging her to enter rehab as recently as 2010, but Peaches never liked to listen to advice.
The only person she would allow to take care of her was her old nanny Anita Debney, who was a surrogate mother to Peaches when she was growing up and the person she called on to be godmother to her two boys.

Gerry Agar told me: ‘As a child, Peaches would sleep in Anita’s room in the basement while Bob and Paula partied upstairs. They had a really strong bond, Peaches would call her Neenor.’

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Couple: Gerry Agar said Paula (pictured with Bob Geldof) 'became another person' when she took drugs

All of the girls were raised to Anita’s rules — such as no TV at night-time and so on. Gerry says: ‘She brought the children up beautifully. She never had a weekend off, or a holiday, and she never had children of her own.’
It was Anita and Gerry, her friend and PR, who finally exposed Paula Yates’ drug-taking after allegedly finding opium under Paula’s bed in a Smarties box in 1996. There was a police raid and when the dust had settled, Anita was let go.
‘It was terrible for Peaches, because she lost her primary carer and by then Paula was not the mother she had been,’ says Gerry.

‘When Paula took drugs, she became another person, really a diabolical being. I don’t think anyone truly understands what life was like in that family, and Peaches got the worst of it'

Gerry Agar

 

‘When Paula took drugs, she became another person, really a diabolical being. I don’t think anyone truly understands what life was like in that family, and Peaches got the worst of it. I can’t even begin to describe what that poor girl lived through.’
‘Once, Paula tried to throw her out of the window of a car because Peaches wanted to call her father. When Paula started on the drugs it was really serious abuse. It began the moment she started her affair with Michael.’
Paula’s war with Bob over money and custody was so intense that it seems to have driven both her and Hutchence to the brink.
The day that Paula died, the girls moved in with their father, and had to adapt to a new life with him and French girlfriend Jeanne Marine. Anita went to look after Peaches and her sisters every day.
Peaches was allowed to live in a flat of her own from the age of 15. Gerry said: ‘Like Paula she was a great businesswoman and brilliant at selling herself, but like Paula she was also terribly insecure and suffered from a history of being abandoned.’

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Investigation: Police continue to scour Peaches Geldof's home in Wrotham, Kent, where she was found dead

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Search: Wearing white overalls and masks, they could be seen carrying plastic bags away from the house

Paula herself was deeply distressed to discover as an adult that the man she had always thought of as her father, Jess Yates, an ITV presenter, was not her biological parent — her real father was talent show host Hughie Green. The revelation was compounded by the fact that Yates was already estranged from her mother.
Gerry says: ‘Both Paula and Peaches were damaged by their childhood, and by abandonment by their exotic, glamorous mothers.
‘They both tried so hard to create a fantasy life really, a fantasy childhood which they never had. I can’t believe that she would have been so foolish to take drugs again, that would be a big shock.
'And she loved those children too much to knowingly leave them behind.’

TWITTER OUTPOURING FROM THE CELEBS...

A host of celebrities have taken to Twitter to pay tribute to Peaches Geldof — including those who knew the tragic young mother and those who didn’t.
Sharon Osborne: ‘Devastated about @peaches_g. Sending condolences & respect to the Geldof family. It’s unimaginable what they must be going through right now.’
Presenter Myleene Klass: ‘The news of beautiful Peaches is utterly devastating, God bless her babies. RIP mama xxx.’ 
The X Factor winner Alexandra Burke: ‘I can’t believe Peaches has passed away. I feel so numb. I’ve never met anyone so kind before. She was a beautiful person ...’ 
Phillip Schofield, of ITV’s This Morning: ‘Utterly stunned at the terrible news of the death of Peaches Geldof! The dreadful loss of a really lovely woman.’ 
Apprentice star Lord Sugar: ‘Peaches Geldof dies aged 25. What happen there?? That’s a shock.’ 
Martin McGuinness, deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland: ‘The loss of Peaches Geldof is very sad for her family & friends — very sorry for them, so tragic.’
Lily Allen: ‘My thoughts are with Peaches’ family at this awful time. I hope they get to grieve in peace. Peaches, rest in peace, gorgeous girl.’ 
Singer Ellie Goulding: ‘Even if you think you’ve got it all figured out, some things still can’t be explained or understood. Two beautiful children. RIP Peaches.’ 
Singer Rita Ora: ‘God only knows the reasons we were just lucky enough to experience you. Even if for a brief moment. To the whole Geldof family. I’m sorry. RIP Peaches.’ 
Coleen Rooney: ‘Can’t believe what I have just heard. RIP Peaches Geldof, such sad news.’
Radio One’s Fearne Cotton, who hosted the ITV2 documentary When Fearne Met Peaches Geldof: ‘I’m beyond shocked and saddened to hear about Peaches. Can’t quite digest it. Thoughts and so much love to the family.’ 
Capital FM radio host Dave Berry: ‘RIP my some-time TV co-host and always very entertaining friend Peaches x.’ 
Close friend Daisy Lowe simply tweeted a picture of a broken heart.
Singer Holly Johnson, who was interviewed by Paula Yates: ‘Sorry to hear the sad news about Peaches Geldof. I remember her as a child always with her mother Paula Yates.’ 
Simon Cowell: ‘The few times I met Peaches she was a sweet, funny, warm person. Much love to her family she has left behind.’ 
Comedian Dom Joly: ‘Had my run-ins with Peaches Geldof in the past, but what awful, sad news.’
Chef Jamie Oliver: ‘Very sad to hear about the sad loss of Peaches Geldof such a shame thoughts and love to her whole family xxxxx :(’ 
Aled Jones: ‘Very sad news of the death of Peaches Geldof — my thoughts and love to Bob and family x.’

Rapper Professor Green: ‘Never knew Peaches, but the loss of a life so young is a horrible thing, especially leaving behind two children.’