Why Cilla Black died: a criminal act, suicide and other media speculation

Why did Cilla Black die? The 72-year-old stalwart of British entertianment was found dead at her Spanish holiday home.

The Metro says Cillas “died of natural causes”.

Was she in good health? Last December she gave an interview:

“I am falling apart. My hand is falling apart. I can’t shake hands. I had arthritis and I had an operation for it. I had it done because I was in pain. I am not in pain at the moment. But it looks a bit deformed on the wrist. That has been fixed but it is going to take some time to heal. I fell in the park earlier this year as well and hurt my hand…

“You see on Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor they all wear ear plugs. But I could not hear myself when I wore them. So that is where the strong voice came from. Now I am totally deaf because of the Cavern days.”

The Telegraph adds drama:

Cilla Black’s son found star’s body after smashing his way into her bedroom

Cilla Black’s doting son Bobby discovered the star’s body after smashing his way into her bedroom when she failed to rise from an afternoon siesta.

We hear from a “source close to the inquiry”:

“Cilla’s son found her lying face upwards in a solarium-style sun terrace next to her bedroom. There’s no conclusive autopsy results yet but the main theory right now is that she had a dizzy turn after going from an air-conditioned room into the midday heat and losing her balance.

“The marks she’s got are consistent with a fall where she’s put up an arm as a defence mechanism.

“What’s need to be determined now is why she fell and whether it was indeed to do with the sudden change in temperature and the effect that had on her – which seems the most likely scenario at the moment – or whether something else triggered the collapse.

“Midday temperatures on Saturday in the area were in the high eighties and we know Cilla wasn’t in the best of health.

“More tests may be necessary after the autopsy to get to the bottom of whats really happened. There’s no evidence to link Cilla’s death to any criminal act but police and courts generally like to keep an open mind on things.“

That speculation from a trusty source who cannot be named becomes fact in the Standard:

Cilla Black died after fall from dizzy turn in searing Costa del Sol heat

Investigation source: “main theory right now is that she had a dizzy turn after going from an air-conditioned room into the midday heat and losing her balance.”

Adding:

…sources close to the investigation said this yesterday morning medical examiners will look closely at marks on her right arm and elbow which they believe may be linked to a fall potentially caused by a sudden temperature change.

We are then told:

Cilla, born Priscilla Maria Veronica White in 1943 in Liverpool, told last year how she would like to die at 75 before she became too frail to enjoy life.

She said: “Seventy-five is a good age to go. I know it’s only four years away but I take each day as I find it.”

No exactly a suicide case, then. Indeed, Cilla said in 2014:

“I agree with Dignitas, but I couldn’t be the one to administer the poison that kills me. I know I couldn’t commit suicide. I’m too much of a coward, I couldn’t do it. I’d rather somebody make that decision for me.”

But the Daily Star still finds it fire to thunder: “CILLA’S SECRET DEATH WISH”:

cilla death wish