The husband of Prince Charles’s former florist killed himself because of money problems, an inquest heard on Thursday (October 8th), five months after his body was found in a Burnham-On-Sea river estuary.
David Lowe, 52, was found drowned in the River Parrett in May after he’d run up more than £30,000 in debt to revamp his home.
His wife, Sarah Champier-Lowe was made redundant last month after 11 years of service at Charles’s Highgrove estate near Tetbury in Gloucestershire.
She prepared floral arrangements there and was responsible for flowers and plants at the Prince’s organic produce shop.
Speaking at an inquest in Taunton on Thursday, Mrs Champier-Lowe said she was not aware of the scale of the debts because her husband refused to discuss their finances.
“It was tight, but I wasn’t really aware of not meeting our financial requirements. David looked after all of that. There was no communication about it. That was part of the problem. I couldn’t get him to discuss, communicate-those problems with me. He was very private about it. I only discovered the amounts on David’s death.”
Mr Lowe was last seen alive in April, and his vehicle was found abandoned at a service station near the Severn Bridge. His body was found in a river estuary near Burnham-On-Sea Sailing Club on May 25th.
Police sealed off an area around Burnham Sailing Club when the body was found at the mouth of the rivers Brue and Parrett and lifeboat crews helped to recover the body.
RELATED LINKS:
Police identify body found in river estuary
Body found in river estuary near Burnham-On-Sea
