London Evening Standard/London

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge yesterday interrupted their tour of Australia to send a heartfelt message of sympathy to the Duchess of Cornwall following the death of her brother Mark Shand in New York.

The couple, who are in the Australian capital Canberra, said in a statement they were “saddened” to hear of the tragedy, adding that their “thoughts are with the Duchess of Cornwall and her family”.

They are also thought to have sent a private message of condolence to Camilla, 66, who is staying with her husband Prince Charles at their Scottish retreat Birkhall.

She was said to be “inconsolable” after hearing of the freak accident that killed her only brother.

The 62-year-old philanthropist and travel writer died in hospital after he fell and hit his head on the pavement while lighting a cigarette outside the Gramercy Park Hotel.

He had earlier attended a glittering charity auction of giant Faberge eggs at Sotheby’s that raised almost £1mn for his Elephant Family conservation group and for underprivileged children in New York.

From there Shand left with friends to go to an after-party at the Diamond Horseshoe Club near Times Square.

The former playboy then returned to the Gramercy Hotel in Manhattan, where he went to the exclusive Rose Bar. At about 3am, as he was preparing to go to bed, he stepped outside into the street for a cigarette.

As Shand tried to re-enter the hotel through its revolving doors he slipped and fell, “striking his head on the pavement”, according to Lieutenant John Grimpel of the New York City Police department.

“The incident was captured on the hotel’s video surveillance system,” the officer added. An eyewitness told how Shand “had his hands in his pockets when he left the bar and fell on the sidewalk, hitting his head”.

Shand was said to be alert and complaining of head pain when the first medical responders reached him. But his condition quickly deteriorated and he was placed on life support as soon as he reached Manhattan’s nearby Bellevue Hospital.

He died 12 hours later at about 5pm UK time on Wednesday and his nephew, the entrepreneur Ben Elliot who helped to organise the after party, later identified the body.

One guest at the Diamond Horseshoe, which features burlesque and vaudeville-style acts, said: “It is so sad. He stayed till the end and was on his way to another venue downtown when he fell.

“He was jovial and in a good mood enjoying the party.”

The socialite was linked to a number of well-known women before he married French actress Clio Goldsmith, the niece of billionaire entrepreneur Sir James Goldsmith, in 1990.