A student killed when an avalanche hit a group in the Swiss Alps was an 18-year-old from west London.
Archie Harvey was on a ski tour with classmates from a Swiss boarding school when the avalanche struck on the Gstelliwang slope of the Wellhorn Mountain near Meiringen on March 21.
He is the son of property developer Philip Harvey and designer Sarah Metcalfe, who are currently believed to be abroad trying to come to terms with their loss.
The family home is a £2m flat in Kensington, while the schoolboy was being educated at a top school in Switzerland.
Neighbours in Kensington on Wednesday said the boy’s death had left them “reeling”.
A family friend told MailOnline: “Phillip and Sarah are devastated, Archie’s death has crushed them. It’s the worst thing that can happen to any parent. After Archie’s funeral his parents went overseas.”
A female US classmate is also believed to have died in the avalanche but her body has not yet been found.
The friend added: “As of last week, we were informed that the American student’s body had still not been discovered. It was a huge avalanche, and the terrain is very inhospitable.”
Archie’s funeral took place in Switzerland two weeks ago.
After initially attending school in the UK, he had been living in Switzerland, where he was a student at the exclusive £57,000-a-year Ecole d’Humanité international school.
The school in the town of Hasliberg is just a short distance away from the ski slope.
Mountain rescue teams and a helicopter were scrambled to help survivors buried beneath the avalanche.
Archie and the other students were on the ski tour with a mountain guide, a youth and sports leader as well as three other individuals.
They were heading down the Gstelliwang slope as the avalanche struck, according to police in Bern.
The school said in a statement issued at the time of the incident: “We regret this terrible accident and are deeply saddened.
“We extend our heartfelt condolences and sympathy to all students, their families and relatives.”
Fifteen people have died in avalanches in Switzerland from last October to March 31 this year.
