Annabelle Neilson and Kate Moss. Photo / Getty Images
Annabelle Neilson and Kate Moss. Photo / Getty Images
Kate Moss has today given a heartbroken tribute to her "best friend" Annabelle Neilson, who has died suddenly aged just 49.
The supermodel, 44, shared a sweet picture of the two cuddling up to one another on Instagram captioned with a bright red heart broken in two, the Daily Mail reports.
The photo was Annabelle's favourite of the friends, and was previously posted on the late star's own Instagram account.
Kate's tribute came as MailOnline revealed Annabelle feared she was "cursed" before her death and sank into depression after her children's books failed to sell because she wanted to be famous in her own right.
The 49-year-old, who had battled heroin addiction as a teenager after a brutal two-hour attack while on an Australian gap year adventure, was found dead at her London home on Thursday.
Westminster Coroner's Court spokeswoman Susan Lord told Radar Online her death is currently believed to have been related to a stroke.
Scotland Yard has not confirmed the cause of death but say it was not suspicious. A post-mortem examination will be completed this week.
Close friends told MailOnline Annabelle, or Tinky as she was known to them, had been battling mental health problems and was upset her books were not bestsellers like the 'Mr Men' or made into a TV series.
She also had battled crippling back pain after being thrown from her horse in 2013, and it is understood she was reliant on powerful pain killers.
Her life was littered with personal tragedies especially soul mate Alexander McQueen's suicide in 2010, which she never fully recovered from.
It is believed she is the last person to have seen him alive.
In 2015, Neilson told the Daily Mail of the designer: "He was my brother, my boyfriend, my soulmate. Most of the time people called me Mrs McQueen. Quite often we were sharing a bed."
Her death has devastated many in the fashion world.
A friend told MailOnline today: "Tinky always said that she thought she was cursed. All she wanted was to be known for being successful at something other than simply being a friend to the famous and she saw writing kids' books as a way to make that happen.
"She came up with some characters that she thought were going to be as big as the Mr. Men series of books but unfortunately, it didn't work out and nobody really bought the books."
Kate Moss and Annabelle Neilson. Photo / Getty
"Tinky even quit [TV reality show] Ladies of London to be known as a children's author instead. She thought that she had made it. But sadly the books never took off."
Neilson's sister Camilla told the Press Association in a statement on behalf of the family: "Very sadly, we have been informed today that my sister Annabelle, died as a result of a heart attack at home last Thursday.
"It has come as a complete shock, as she had many plans having recently returned from Spain.
"My parents and I are devastated and shocked by this news. We would ask the media to respect the privacy of our family and Annabelle's close friends during this very difficult time."
Despite suffering from dyslexia as a child, Annabelle ploughed thousands of pounds into creating a series of books based on her personality that she hoped would one day rival Roger Hargreaves's successful 'Mr. Men' series.
She used her impressive A-list contacts book to recruit friends such as supermodel Kate Moss, actor Rhys Ifans and Meg Matthews to launch her new career.
But despite the support of friends and family the books based on characters called the Me, Me, Me's flopped.
Friends said she sank into depression after the independent publishers promoting her books went out of business.
A second business venture with a children's book called Fi Rex aimed at raising funds for charity also failed to take off.
Annabelle briefly moved to Texas, America in 2016 as depression took hold but later moved back to her parents' home in Chelsea and mostly shunned the socialite circuit.
Kate Moss and Annabelle Neilson attend Naomi Campbell's Fashion For Relief Haiti London 2010 Fashion Show at Somerset House on February 18, 2010 in London, England. Photo / Getty
She was last seen at the wedding of her former boyfriend Lord Edward Spencer-Churchill on July 7, posing for Instagram photos with her close friend Kate Moss.
Her books Angry Me, Messy Me and Dreamy Me were published in 2015 and 2016 by Kent based Fat Fox Books.
Second-hand copies of Annabelle's creations were on sale on Amazon this week between 1p and 50p and Angry Me was their 10,408th lowest seller.
Friends said Annabelle had hopes they would be turned into a TV series.
The books were designed to showcase some of the difficulties that she had as a child or people who influenced her, such as fashion designer McQueen.
One book was titled ADD Me and highlighted her struggle with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Annabelle's Instagram feed in February 2016 showed her promoting her books in a series of posts with Moss by her side.
Annabelle Neilson attends the launch of one her children's books. Photo / Getty Images
One image shows her signing books in a Waterstones store with children, and another from April 2017 reveals the mock-up cover of the fourth book of the series, ADD Me, that was never released.
Annabelle worked on the charity book called Fi-Rex with other celebrity pals including Paul McCartney, Kylie Minogue, One Direction, and Tom Daley.
But like her Me Me Me books it also failed to take off.
Her friend added: "Annabelle saw this project as her final chance to be a success and her mood hit a new low afterwards."
The socialite became quite insular and remote from many friends and family.
"Annabelle's rock was her sister Millie and, even when she went missing from all those around her and turned off her phone and went to her own quiet place, it was Millie who could bring her back," her friend went on.
"She was fighting her own personal demons such as the attack, the aftermath of addiction and the injuries. Her dreams of being known as a famous author not working out were a big blow."
Annabelle had high hopes her career as a children's author would take off.
She had an extraordinary and troubled life where she claimed heroin addiction had actually saved her from suicide.
The model and star of Ladies of London was found dead at her £3million Chelsea mansion last Thursday and while the cause of her death has not been confirmed police are not treating it as suspicious.
Her life was first turned upside down 33 years ago when she was the victim of a horrific attack while staying with family friends while travelling across Australia as a 16-year-old on her gap year.
The assailant, later convicted of killing three women, tied her to a tree and beat her for two hours, leaving her in need of reconstructive surgery.
Left depressed, she was a drug addict by the time she turned 16, and left school without any qualifications, saying in 2015: "In a way, heroin saved me because otherwise I would have killed myself".
Although she eventually managed to get clean from hard drugs, she claimed they helped her survive the brutal experience.
She told the Mail in 2015: "The attack lasted for two hours. I was tied to a tree and continually beaten. I looked like the elephant girl by the end of it.
Annabelle Neilson. Photo / Getty Images
"I managed to escape with my life but I needed reconstructive surgery because my face was so disfigured. After that, I fell into a serious depression and became a heroin addict because it provided an escape bubble and was the only way I could cope".
Annabelle, whose grandmother was the Queen Mother's cousin, considered fellow cover girl Kate Moss a 'sister' and was notorious on London's party scene for her antics.
She once famously bragged she was chasing infamy not fame and said: "My dad says I'm perfect and everybody else says I'm trouble".
It was her work as a muse for designer Mr McQueen that put Miss Neilson on the fashion map.
"He was my brother, my boyfriend, my soulmate. Most of the time people called me Mrs McQueen. Quite often we were sharing a bed," she said recently.
"The truth is I was happier with Lee than with anyone else. He asked me to marry him towards the end and I said no. I wish now that I had said yes."
They met when she was 22 after they were introduced by the late Tatler fashion editor Isabella Blow.
Annabelle Nielson and designer Alexander McQueen. Photo / Getty Images
"Issie brought me to Lee as a model. She presented me to him as his new girl. Lee loved me immediately and it felt like we knew each other straight away," Annabelle told the Daily Mail in 2015.
"We were so alike. He was also dyslexic; he mirrored me in so many ways."
The pair were inseparable, partying all over the world together with other models as well as fellow designer John Galliano.
The adventurous extrovert also enjoyed flying helicopters, swimming with sharks and riding motorbikes including during a rally across the Himalayas.
But she also always admitted there had been sadness in her life and a struggle at times with depression - and crippling back pain.
The horse lover broke her back after being thrown off the saddle in 2013.
She said: "I remember seeing the glint of a silver car and the horse getting spooked and jumping. The next second I was flat on my back in the mud.
"The pain was horrendous and I started having convulsions. Worst of all, I couldn't move my legs and I thought, 'This is it, I'm paralyzed'."
She couldn't walk for 12 weeks and never rode a horse again because of her chronic back pain.
Only two days before she died, she had appeared in good spirits, posting a photo on social media of a man in a pool with the caption: "Fatties get in first!"
Miss Neilson shocked high society when she married Mr Rothschild, 47, in Las Vegas in 1994 after they met on a beach in India.
The son and heir of banker Jacob, he is in line to become the fifth Baron Rothschild and inherit around £500million.
Mr Rothschild's parents were said at the time to be 'appalled' by his 'vulgar' choice. But after three years of marriage, marked by hard partying and rows, the couple divorced.
Miss Neilson is understood to have received a generous settlement in return for rescinding the dynastic name and signing a confidentiality deal.
The former couple met on a beach in India, and a close family friend told the Daily Mail at the time of their divorce that Rothschild's parents had been 'appalled' by their then 23-year-old son's 'vulgar' choice of wife.
After just three years of marriage, marked by hard-partying and cataclysmic rows, the couple split and Annabelle reportedly received a generous financial settlement in return for rescinding the dynastic name and signing a confidentiality agreement.
Annabelle Neilson and Kate Moss. Photo / Getty Images
Rothschild reportedly went on to date Natalie Portman and Ivanka Trump, before marrying a topless model, Loretta Basey, two years ago.
Annabelle went on to date Edward Spencer Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough's half-brother, and remained close after their break-up.
Indeed the last picture of Annabelle was taken at his marriage last week, held at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. She posed happily alongside her friend Kate Moss in the image.
She enjoyed a gilded upbringing; her paternal grandmother was a second cousin of the late Queen Mother.
Her first cousin was the Earl of Warwick and she enjoyed play dates at Warwick Castle as a girl.
While working as a model for Mr McQueen in the early 1990s, Miss Neilson met Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell.
The trio became part of the now infamous Primrose Hill set, where all-night parties at Noel Gallagher and Meg Mathews' Supernova Heights mansion were the norm.
Again it was through Alexander McQueen in the early 1990s that she met the A-listers including Kate Moss.
Annabelle said this year: "Kate is my best mate and I love her like a sister. Yes, she's an icon but to me she's just Kate.
"We fight over stupid things, then we kiss and make up. We share clothes, we share everything and her fame has never been an issue.
"She always looks out for me and I look out for her. We've got each other's backs. I'm very proud of her and she's very proud of me."
In later life Annabelle starred in the U.S. reality show Ladies Of London for two seasons, from 2014 to 2015.
Kate Moss, Annabelle Neilson and Naomi Campbell at Naomi Campbell's Fashion For Relief catwalk show at Somerset House. Photo / Getty
She used the series as a way to relaunch herself as a children's author two years ago, publishing a series of books, The Me Me Me's.
The show chronicled her life in London, including a devastating horse accident, which left her with multiple broken injuries, including a broken back and pelvis.
While recovering Annabelle was cared for by her parents at their home off the Kings Road in Chelsea, West London.
Speaking at the family home on Monday, Annabelle's father Max told Mail Online: "I am sorry but I can't help you. Thank you for calling."
Fans flocked to Instagram to pay tribute to Annabelle. An Instagram picture of a swimming pool was posted to her account the day following her death, presumably a pre-scheduled post.
A spokesman said: "Police were called by London Ambulance Service at approximately 10.20pm on Thursday, 12 July to a residential address in SW3 after a woman had been found deceased at the location".
