Kate Middleton, Prince William’s classmate Ben Duncan dies after fall from London rooftop bar

Ben Duncan, a socialite, reality television personality and former university classmate of the Prince and Princess of Wales, has died after falling from a rooftop bar in central London.

The 43-year-old, who studied alongside Prince William and Kate Middleton at the University of St Andrews, fell from the seven-storey Trafalgar St James Hotel in Westminster on the night of October 30.

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said, “Officers responded to concerns for a man on the roof of a building in Cockspur Street, Westminster at 11.02pm on Thursday, 30 October. The man sadly fell from height.”

“Despite the best efforts from the London Ambulance Service, he was sadly pronounced dead at the scene,” the spokesperson continued.

“His death is being treated as unexpected but non-suspicious.”

Duncan attended St Andrews in the early 2000s, the same period when Prince William and Princess Kate’s relationship began to draw quiet attention on campus.

In a 2010 interview with the Daily Mail, Duncan reflected on that time.

“Because we’d had Will and Kate in our midst, we had royal protection officers swarming the place,” he said.

“We knew that they had hit it off and we knew that something was happening, but they were just left alone to get on with it.”

People revealed he was also present at the now-famous student fashion show, where Princess Kate reportedly caught Prince William’s eye in a sheer dress.

“It was the end of their first year. I was there, and in person, there were a lot of attractive girls,” he recalled.

“She was in a very daring dress, in a sheer stocking-like dress. He was sitting front row and his eyes were like stalks.”

“She brushed by him on the way to the catwalk and things were never the same again. The whole history of the monarchy had been altered,” Duncan added.

After university, Duncan turned his attention to television.

He appeared in the 11th season of Big Brother in 2010, which was the show’s final run on Channel 4. He became the sixth contestant evicted that year in a series ultimately won by Josie Gibson.

He later made appearances on several British programs, including Come Dine With Me, Ladette to Lady and Celebrity Coach Trip. Known for his sharp humour and easy charm, Duncan was a familiar face from the height of the UK’s reality television era.

Friends and colleagues paid tribute to Duncan online following news of his death, remembering him as witty, warm and full of life.

Broadcaster Mike Hollingsworth wrote on Facebook: “My dear, dear friend Benjamin (Ben) Duncan has left us. He lived life as Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up. He will be sorely missed by his many, many friends, who grew to love his charm, his wit, his infectious laugh and his innate sense of style. The world is a poorer place for his passing. RIP Benji.”

Duncan’s death has left shockwaves among those who knew him both in Britain’s television circles and within the St Andrews alumni community. He is being remembered for his humour, his warmth and for the small but enduring role he played in one of modern royal history’s most-watched love stories.