After a courageous battle with several types of cancer over the past twenty years, Cressida Bonas’s sister, Pandora Cooper-Key, passed away.
In March, Pandora said that her family had planned her funeral “thousands of times” after her first cancer was diagnosed nearly 25 years ago.
Pandora was born to nobleman Esmond Cooper-Key and former It girl Lady Mary-Gaye Curzon. She had ten siblings in total, including the actress and model Bonas, who was her half-sister.
Princess Eugenie, daughter of Sarah Ferguson, introduced Cressida and Prince Harry in May 2012. They dated until April 2014 despite a rough stretch following Harry’s notorious naked Las Vegas photo.
Cressida and Harry’s other ex-girlfriend, Chelsy Davy, were both invited guests to Meghan Markle and Harry’s May 2018 wedding.
On the left side of her brain, the mother-of-two was found to have an incurable tumor, which was diagnosed toward the end of last year.
She had been undergoing immunotherapy treatments with the expectation of making a full recovery.
Pandora was Initially diagnosed with Paget’s Disease, a highly uncommon form of milk duct cancer, at the age of 26 in 2000. Approximately eight years after overcoming the illness, she became a mother for the first time.
Physicians then discovered a sarcoma in her left eye only weeks after she gave birth.
Only a tiny number of sarcomas are identified in the United Kingdom annually; these tumors are notoriously aggressive.
Cooper-Key battled for years despite being given about ten months to live after having her tear duct surgically removed.
Before another tumor was found below her nose, one was excised off her cheek.
Seizures were another problem for her; they were so severe that she would be out for days at a time.
After eight operations to remove tumors and for cosmetic purposes, Cooper-Key was left with a paralyzed side of her face and needed Botox to restore entire movement to the other.
She defied her health issues to pursue a career in fashion, learning the ropes from the late, great Vivienne Westwood. But the news of a brain tumor last year was perhaps the final setback. Despite undergoing immunotherapy, her mental health suffered greatly as a result of the trauma.
She came out earlier this year on her battles with depression.
Pandora was 51.
