Mystery deepens after body found in pond at Kensington Palace

Kensington Palace. Photo / Getty Images

The identity of a body found in an ornamental lake at Kensington Palace remains unknown, providing relief for one desperate family and deepening the mystery for British police.

The Daily Mail reports that the body was retrieved from the pond at the palace, home to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, last weekend and identified as artist Endellion Lycett Green, granddaughter of former British poet laureate Sir John Betjeman.

Endellion, 51, had been missing for a week and the Metropolitan Police had made public appeals to help locate her.

But the discovery was revealed as a case of mistaken identity when Endellion turned up alive.

"My sister Endellion is alive, safe and well," her brother John Lycett Green told friends in a message quoted by the Mail.

"Sorry to all of you that, like us, were grieving for the wonder that is Delli. We were told a body was found and was her. It was not, and Delli was found last night," the messaged continued.

"RIP the soul that was found in Kensington Round Pond on Saturday morning."

A Scotland Yard spokesman told the Mail: "The death is being treated as unexplained at this time, but is not thought to be suspicious. Inquiries are ongoing."

The palace has housed members of the British royal family since the 17th century and been home to some of its most famous members.

It was Prince Charles and Princess Diana's home and remained the Princess's official residence after their divorce.

The 16ft-deep lake where the woman's body was found was created by George II in 1730 and is home to the oldest model yacht club in the UK - the Model Yacht Sailing Association, which was established in 1876.