News reader Carol Barnes and government minister Denis MacShane are mourning the loss of their 24-year-old daughter Clare, who was killed in a skydiving accident on Sunday.
The grieving parents, who are no longer married to each other, were set to fly out to Australia, where the tragedy took place, to make funeral arrangements.
A statement issued via the Foreign Office paid tribute to their "lovely and much-loved daughter", reading: "Clare was close to both her her parents, to her brother James, and her half-sisters and half-brother, who are united in grief at the loss of a beautiful young woman who made more friends in her short life than most manage over long decades.
"She died as she lived, living at the edge of experience in a sport that gave her immense pleasure."
The release further explained that Clare, who was marking her 200th jump, shared a mid-air kiss with her boyfriend, a fellow skydiver, before the 14,000-ft plunge turned deadly. It is believed that the accident occurred when her parachute malfunctioned, becoming entangled with her emergency chute.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
