Ben Duncan, William and Catherine's classmate, dies after rooftop fall

Ben Duncan, a 45-year-old former reality television contestant and university classmate of Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, died after falling from the rooftop bar of the Trafalgar St. James hotel in central London late on Thursday, authorities said. Metropolitan Police officers were called to reports of a man on the roof of a building in Cockspur Street, Westminster, at 23:02 on October 30. The man fell from height and, despite efforts by the London Ambulance Service, was pronounced dead at the scene in Spring Gardens, just off Trafalgar Square. Police described the death as unexpected but not suspicious.

Emergency services deployed multiple resources to the scene, including ambulance crews, paramedics in fast-response vehicles, members of the Hazardous Area Response Team and a trauma team from London’s Air Ambulance, a spokesman for the ambulance service said. Hotel staff and witnesses have not been publicly identified. Hotel safety features at the rooftop venue, including high plastic screens, were reported in accounts of the incident.

Duncan rose to public attention after appearing on the 2010 series 11 of Big Brother in the United Kingdom and later took part...