**Louise Gannon has spent a career reporting on the Geldof clan, but she was as shocked as the rest of the nation by Peaches’ sudden death in April. Here, she reports on the fallout since then. **
When the first patchy news reports of Peaches’ death erupted in April, a huge part of the shock was down to the fact that it felt so unexpected. Endless texts from friends said the same, ‘But everything was OK with her’, ‘She was in a good place’. However, it turned out that the picture-perfect life she portrayed on her Instagram feed with her beloved boys, Astala, two, and Phaedra, 20 months, belied the life she was truly living.
Over the next few weeks it became clearer that everything you didn’t want to believe about Peaches was true. The heroin, the despair and the awful destructive pull back to her mother, Paula, who died from an overdose in 2000. What makes her death – at just 25 – so haunting is it was all so horribly inevitable.
‘You blame yourself,’ Bob Geldof said in the aftermath when he spoke of his ‘intolerable grief”. For a man who had previously refused to discuss public parental dramas, it was a rare glimpse into his private turmoil.
Once Peaches told me that after her mother died her life was like ‘living on a permanent see-saw and just very scary and sad’. However, since her own death, the Geldofs have regrouped and the family dynamic has shifted.
Fifi Trixibelle, 31, Bob’s eldest daughter, spoke openly for first time ever about her crippling depression. Peaches’ closest sister, Pixie, 24, has found a stable life with her boyfriend, model George Barnett. Tiger (Paula’s daughter with Michael Hutchence), 18, has shunned the party lifestyle, preferring to focus on her drama studies in New York. All remain hugely loyal to their sister’s widower, Tom, who is bringing up his and Peaches’ boys with the help of his devoted parents. Next year there will be two Geldof weddings as both Bob and Fifi will cement new lives with their partners.
One close friend of the family said: ‘Peaches’ loss has been a wake-up call to the rest of the family about life needing to be lived and love needing to be loved.’
And we also said goodbye to...
FEBRUARY
Philip Seymour Hoffman: The film world reeled at the sudden death of the brilliant Oscar-winning actor, aged 46.
MARCH
L’Wren Scott: Fashion and music joined Mick Jagger in mourning the loss of his girlfriend of 13 years, designer L’Wren Scott, 49.
APRIL
Bob Hoskins: The screen icon, 71, passed away with his family by his side.
MAY
Louise Wilson: The brilliant St Martins professor died aged 52 after a long illness.
JUNE
Maya Angelou: The poet, writer and civil rights activist died aged 86.
Rik Mayall: The comedy legend died of a heart attack at 56.
JULY
Lauren Bacall: The silver screen beauty died aged 89.
Robin Williams: The comedian was mourned the world over after he was found dead at his home aged 63. 
AUGUST
Richard Attenborough: We lost the legendary 90-year-old British actor, director andtphilanthropist.
SEPTEMBER
Joan Rivers: The firebrand comedian who changed the face of female funny died aged 81.
OCTOBER
Oscar de la Renta: The designer to the stars made Amal Clooney’s wedding dress just weeks before passing away aged 82.
NOVEMBER
PD James: 94-year-old Baroness James of Holland Park was mistress of the British crime thriller.