Tara Palmer-Tomkinson's thin frame raises eyebrows at society party

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The 43-year-old cut a slender figure at a party in Richmond on Tuesday
Her pale pink Chanel playsuit showed off worryingly thin legs and arms
Miss Palmer-Tomkinson is thought to be a UK size four (US size zero)
She has hit the headlines in the past after losing lots of weight
Says she has a fast metabolism and a naturally muscular frame

Published: 04:18 EST, 16 July 2015 | Updated: 06:55 EST, 16 July 2015

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Dressed in a pale-pink Chanel playsuit and a pair of skyscraper heels, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson looked every inch the society girl as she arrived Lady Annabel Goldsmith's summer party.

But it wasn't only Miss Palmer-Tomkinson's clothes that proved a talking point at Tuesday night's bash in Richmond.

Not for the first time, the 43-year-old appeared worryingly thin with the short cut of the playsuit emphasising her matchstick legs while her face appeared gaunt.

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Consternation: Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, with Ivan Massow, looked slender in her pale pink Chanel playsuit

As the Daily Mail's diarist Sebastian Shakespeare reveals today, the socialite, who describes herself as a 'virtual recluse', swears by the Nutribullet - a blending machine aimed at dieters.

But Miss Palmer-Tomkinson, who has veered between slim and worryingly thin over the last decade, would probably be better off without it.

In 2008, she hit the headlines when she arrived at the opening of a National Portrait Gallery exhibition in a strapless top that did nothing to hide her sinewy arms.

Comparisons with Madonna followed but the socialite, a tiny British size four, said that her slimline look had nothing to do with dieting.

'I have this very muscly, skinny body and I don't like it,' she lamented. 'I tell my friends I'm on the doughnut diet but I can't put the weight back on.

'If I went to the gym, I'd bulk up. I hate my muscles. They're all veiny. I always put my arms up in the air before I get out of a car so the veins don't stick out.

Not the first time: The socialite, pictured left in 2005 and right in 2008, has looked slimline in the past

Sinewy: In 2008, the sight of her muscled upper arms prompted comparisons with Madonna

'I'm strong, though. I'm always the one who can get the lid off the jam jar.'

Two years later, she became the subject of renewed scrutiny after stepping out in London looking frail in a striped top and skinny jeans that only emphasised her slim frame.

Again she shrugged off concerns, claiming her slender look was due to being 'all muscle' and blamed her lack of fat on a high metabolism.

'I have such a high metabolism I need to eat four times as much as everyone else,' she said at the time.

'My mum is the same. My body weight is totally made up of muscle, no fat. I don’t work out or anything, it’s just the way I am.'

In 2014, Miss Palmer-Tomkinson, a former cocaine addict, was back in the headlines once more - this time after a meltdown at Heathrow Airport that saw her rip out her own hair extensions and fling them at staff.

Worrying: In 2012, she looked frighteningly thin at the Attitude Magazine awards in Mayfair

Upsetting: She told Jeremy Kyle that she still has regular therapy sessions in an interview last June

Meltdown: The socialite reportedly had a meltdown at Heathrow Airport last December after being denied access to a lounge and had to be restrained by eight police officers

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson RIPS her own hair out at Heathrow

Eight armed police were reportedly called in to restrain her, with the socialite later pictured standing morosely at the check-in desk.

But while much of the focus was on her meltdown, allegedly caused by her being refused access to the first class lounge while she waited for her flight to Zurich, her slim frame again raised eyebrows.

Wearing a pair of black skinny jeans and a grey and white striped top, the 43-year-old cut a miserable figure and looked gaunt and drained.

Part of the reason is thought to be her ongoing battle to stay clean of drink and drugs - she still has regular therapy sessions to help her past cravings.

Appearing on The Jeremy Kyle Show last summer, she admitted: 'I have seen a therapist every single week for the last nine, ten, 11 years of my life.'

A troubled love life hasn't helped - indeed, Miss Palmer-Tomkinson famously blamed her first taste of cocaine on 'being unable to say no to a man that I loved'.

But while she might be free of drugs, it seems that Prince Charles' much-loved god-daughter still hasn't quite managed to see off her demons.