Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Miriam Burrell

Teenage girl found dead ‘close to playing field’ at High Wycombe boarding school

A teenage girl has been found dead near a prestigious boarding school in Buckinghamshire with annual fees that top £44,000.

Her body was found just before midnight on Friday April 21 near Wycombe Abbey School, Thames Valley Police have confirmed.

“Thames Valley Police was called to the Wycombe Abbey School at around 11.40pm on Friday after a 16-year-old girl was sadly found to have died,” the force said in a statement.

“Her death is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious and a file is being prepared for the coroner.”

The body was discovered in a wooded area near the playing fields, the Mirror is reporting.

Wycombe Abbey School declined to comment.

Wycombe Abbey is an independent girls’ boarding and day school that has ranked as one of the top all-girls schools in academic results.

Boarding fees can cost parents up to £44,100 per year. It is reported that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s eldest daughter attends the school.

Notable alumni of the school include Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss who was Deputy Coroner of the Queen’s Household, actress Sally Phillips and CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward.

The school was founded in 1896 by Dame Frances Dove, who was previously headmistress of St Leonards School in Scotland.

In 2019 student Iris Goldsmith, aged 15, died in a quad biking accident in Somerset during the school holidays.

During her funeral service, the Chaplain of Wycombe Abbey spoke of Iris’s academic brilliance, of her kindness, her spiritual depth.

It was reported that in the same year, violinist prodigy and Wycombe Abbey student Ekaterina Tsukanova was found dead in her father’s property.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.