The 8th Marquess of Ailesbury, who died after falling from his bedroom window, took his own life, a coroner has ruled.
Michael Brudenell-Bruce, 98, was found on the patio at his west London home on May 12 last year.
He was discovered with at least three belts around his body, the assistant coroner for west London, Dr Anton van Dellen, ruled on Friday.
Teresa Marshall de Paoli, a former model, was with Mr Brudenell-Bruce for more than 37 years and was the first person to find him lying on the patio in the back garden of their home in Shepherd’s Bush.
She told the court he did not have belts on his arms or chest when she first discovered him.
Ms Marshall de Paoli said when she found him she did not know if he was dead and first called her stepdaughter Kathryn Brudenell-Bruce ‘in shock’.
The court was shown bodyworn footage from Inspector Dipak Godhania, one of the police officers called to the scene, in which forensic officers can be seen undoing two belts from Mr Brudenell-Bruce’s arms.
The court has heard police also found another belt wrapped around his chest.
Ms Marshall de Paoli said the belts were ‘the biggest mystery’ to her.
The 8th Marquess of Ailesbury, Michael Brudenell-Bruce,who died after falling from his bedroom window, took his own life, a coroner has ruled. Pictured: Mrs Teresa De Marshall Pauli and the Marquess of Ailesbury
The Marquess was discovered with at least three belts around his body, the assistant coroner for west London, Dr Anton van Dellen, ruled on Friday
After ruling that Mr Brudenell-Bruce died by suicide, the coroner paid tribute to him, saying: ‘It is very clear to me that he was a remarkable man
‘Can I just tell you when I found Lord Ailesbury there were no belts around his arms,’ she told the hearing.
‘There was only one belt on Lord Ailesbury and that was his brown Hermes belt, around his waist.
‘This to me was the biggest mystery because he did not have any belts round him when I found him.’
Asked if Mr Brudenell-Bruce could have put the belts on himself, Dr Claudia Wald, a psychiatrist who assessed him in July 2022, said she thought it was unlikely given his physical frailty.
‘In fact I think it would be very difficult for anyone to do,’ Dr Wald said.
Before the ruling the inquest previously heard evidence from Mr Brudenell-Bruce’s grandson, Viscount Tom Savernake, who said his grandfather ‘must have’ been able to buckle his own belt.
‘He would go to the toilet unassisted and come back fully dressed,’ Viscount Savernake said.
He also told the court how Mr Brudenell-Bruce could have ‘been taken advantage of by family members’ in the final years before his death.
Viscount Savernake visited his grandfather weekly before he died because he was concerned about how other family members treated him, West London Coroner’s Court heard.
He said: ‘I had been visiting every week for the previous five or six years… I began to be concerned that various family members were taking advantage of him.’
Teresa Marshall De Paoli, the former long-term partner of the Marquess of Ailesbury, and his grandson Thomas Brudenell-Bruce arriving at West London coroners court
The inquest heard in evidence from the couple’s housekeeper Joanne Chubb (pictured) that Mr Brudenell-Bruce’s bedroom window had been left wide open that afternoon and it had been a hot and humid day
He added his grandfather was ‘kind, kind of funny, and devoted to his partner Teresa’.
But, Dr Claudia Wald said he spoke about being nervous in Ms Marshall de Paoli’s company.
She said he ‘had to walk on eggshells for fear she might ask him to leave his home and never come back.
Dr Wald added: ‘He was also able to comment that when he was in the company of other family members he was a lot more happy.’
Mr Brudenell-Bruce’s daughter Lady Kathyrn Brudenell-Bruce and Viscount Savernake both told the coroner they did not believe his partner harmed him.
He had suffered with depression and was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s dementia in March 2021, the court was told.
He had suicidal ideas in December 2008 after the stock market crash and his move from Savernacke Forest, Wiltshire, to London.
David Brudenell-Bruce, the 9th Marquess of Ailesbury, arriving at the court alongside his wife
Lady Kathryn Brudenell-Bruce arriving at the inquest with her husband Tim Wilkinson
Ms Marshall de Paoli initially told the court she thought it was around 7pm when she found her husband unconscious on the patio floor.
Asked why she did not call police until 7.52pm she said: ‘Then it must’ve been later than 7pm when I found him.’
The inquest has heard there was a delay between ambulance crews arriving and Ms Marshall de Paoli answering the door.
Asked by Dr van Dellen whether she agreed there was a delay, Ms Marshall de Paoli said: ‘Well, if they say so, I guess, yes.’
She told the hearing she thought she had been getting changed from what she had been wearing all day because she thought she might have to go to the hospital with her partner.
The inquest heard in evidence from the couple’s housekeeper Joanne Chubb that Mr Brudenell-Bruce’s bedroom window had been left wide open that afternoon and it had been a hot and humid day.
Ms Marshall de Paoli told the court she had not known the window was open, and only suspected he had fallen from the window when she went up to the bedroom after finding him unconscious.
The inquest previously heard in police evidence that Ms Marshall de Paoli had said doctors had been giving injections to patients to help them die for years, but were being stopped by ‘lefty nurses’.
She told the hearing: ‘I don’t remember saying that to police. I do remember saying that to someone else though.’
She told the court she had some sympathy for people who assist others in dying.
‘I could understand why, I suppose if someone was dying of cancer and was in terrible pain, I would have some sympathy with that,’ Ms Marshall de Paoli said.
‘But it’s certainly not something I could have ever done.’
When paramedics arrived at the scene they called the police as they believed the incident was ‘suspicious because of the circumstances’.
PC Katherine Taylor, one of the officers who attended the scene, said Marshall de Paoli ‘seemed in shock’ and ‘was distressed’ – but didn’t recall her crying.
Taylor claimed Brudenell-Bruce was found with two belts wrapped around his arms, which another officer suggested could have been to stop him trying to break his fall.
Dr van Dellen said he rejected a conclusion of assisted suicide because Ms Marshall de Paoli ‘would have had to lie repeatedly to police, maintain that lie in correspondence with this court and then lie repeatedly under oath here today’.
‘I reject that. I found her a credible, if somewhat frail, witness.’
After ruling that Mr Brudenell-Bruce died by suicide, the coroner paid tribute to him, saying: ‘It is very clear to me that he was a remarkable man.
‘He lived to 98 years of age, he was clearly somebody who lived through some of the greatest events of the last century.
‘The fact that so many people are present in court today indicates to me he was very much loved and I’ve no doubt very much missed.’
