Death of Duchess of Cornwall’s brother ruled accidental

The death of the Duchess of Cornwall’s brother Mark Shand, who fell and banged his head outside a New York hotel bar, has been ruled an accident.

A spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office in New York said the death of Mr Shand, 62, was caused by blunt impact head trauma with skull fracture and bleeding in the brain.

Mr Shand was in New York for an auction at Sotheby’s in aid of a charity for underprivileged children and the Elephant Family, of which he was chairman, which aims to save the endangered Asian elephant from extinction in the wild.