A sister of one of the British tourists who both fell to their deaths in Morocco has applied for custody of the four boys left orphaned by the tragedy.
Charlotte Sebag-Montefiore is already looking after the children of Roger and Mathilde Lamb and is now taking steps to formalise the arrangement.
Mrs Lamb, who was known as Tilly, died in hospital earlier this month from injuries she suffered when she fell from a window at a holiday apartment in Essaouira. The following day her husband died after falling from a balcony at a hotel he had moved to with his sons.
Police in the UK and in Morocco have denied reports that they are treating Mrs Lamb’s death as suspicious, or that they intend to search the Lamb family’s home in Pensham, Worcs., for any evidence that might shed light on the tragedy.
A police spokesman in Morocco said the death of Mrs Lamb, 43, was being treated as an accident, while the death of Mr Lamb, 47, is being treated as suicide.
“Mrs Lamb’s death was accidental as far as we are concerned,” said the spokesman. “An investigation has concluded she died after stumbling through the window after losing her footing.”
Mrs Lamb is thought to have put her foot on a wooden bar across the window, which gave way, causing her to fall.
The police spokesman added: “Her husband, heartbroken by the loss of his wife, took his own life by jumping to his death from a hotel balcony the day after learning she had died.”
The couple’s four sons, Angus, 16, Monty, 15, Henry, 11, and Felix, nine, were flown back to Britain soon after their father’s death, and are being cared for by their maternal aunt, Mrs Sebag-Montefiore, and her husband Rupert, the chairman of the estate agent Savills.
Mr Sebag-Montefiore is the brother of the historian Simon Sebag-Montefiore, whose wife, Santa, and her sister Tara Palmer-Tomkinson are friends of the Prince of Wales.
Yesterday Simon Sebag-Montefiore said: “I can’t say anything about it at all. We’ve all been asked not to say anything.”
Juliete Cavanagh, 57, another of Mrs Lamb’s five sisters, said: “For the four boys it’s an absolute nightmare.
“My sister Charlotte is looking after them at the moment and has applied for custody of them.
“Tilly and Roger were the loveliest people ever. I will miss her terribly. Tilly looks after our elderly mother, and she will miss her enormously.”
Mr Lamb, an engineer, had been working in New Zealand on rebuilding projects following the earthquake earlier this year, and the couple had considered moving their family to New Zealand.
A service was held at Great Comberton Church on Saturday near the family home where dozens of friends turned out to pay tribute to the popular family.
Rev Terry Henderson said: “They have both already been in our prayers since we heard of this.
“When news like this is suddenly made known in a small rural community, people are traumatised by it.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8728187/Sister-of-British-woman-killed-Morocco-holiday-fall-applies-for-custody-of-her-four-orphaned-sons.html
