A 98-year-old aristocrat has died after falling out of his bedroom window while letting his cat out, Metro reported. The incident happened on May 12 when Michael Sydney Cedric Brudenell-Bruce, Marquess of Ailesbury fell out of his bedroom window and hit a concrete patio at his London home.
Recounting the incident, his wife, Teresa Marshall de Paoli, 88 said, ''It was an absolutely freak accident. I think the cat called Honeybun got her head stuck and he pushed it (the window) up and lost his balance and fell onto the patio. He hit the concrete with the back of his head.''
He had been lying there for over an hour before she found him. She then immediately contacted police and her daughter, Lady Kathryn Brudenell Bruce who arrived soon after.
Ms Paoli further revealed that her husband had been suffering from dementia at the time of his death.
The couple lived together at their terraced home in Shepherd's Bush, west London, for 14 years after moving from Wiltshire.
A spokesperson for the Met Police said, ''Police were called by the London Ambulance Service at 8.05 pm on Sunday, May 12, to an address in Abdale Road, W12, after a man in his 90s was found deceased. Officers and London Ambulance Service attended.''
Ms Paoli, who had been his partner for 36 years said the police treated the death as a "crime scene" although she was not arrested.
She said, ''They thought I might have killed him before they realised he had fallen out of the window. It was an absolutely freak accident. There had not been a row – I had not hit him. He hit the concrete with back of head – I was told that would have killed him. He could have been lying there an hour, an hour and a half. He was cold and very pale. I got a cushion and put it under his head. I dialled 999 and said my partner has had an accident. The ambulance and police was here within seven minutes and a police officer, a woman said he was dead.''
She was later allowed to say goodbye and spray his favourite aftershave on his body.
The Marquess was a distant relative of Prince Harry's model ex Florence Brudenell-Bruce. Notably, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, and Florence dated for two months in 2011.
