Serena Prest Obituary, Death – An inquest heard that a horseriding accident had a “terrible effect” on the life of a mother of three who owned a Cotswolds estate that was previously rated England’s favorite house. The tragedy occurred as the woman was riding her horse. Rupert Prest, the woman’s husband, discovered the body of Serena Prest, who was 56 years old, in the garden of Eyeford House in Upper Slaughter, Gloucestershire, on the morning of June 6 of the previous year.
Roland Wooderson, who works as an assistant for the county coroner, wrote down the verdict of suicide. In 2011, a group of judges that included the creator of “Downton Abbey,” Lord Julian Fellowes, as well as the CEO of a ceramics company, Emma Bridgewater, and the businesswoman and socialite Viscountess Annabel Astor and Charlie Brooks, selected the residence of Mrs. Prest as England’s Favorite House.
Out of a field of 150 potential properties, they settled on the early twentieth-century property located in the Cotswolds because they believed it to be “the ultimate country house for many generations.” Mrs. Prest, whose full name was Joanna Alice Serena, received the house as an inheritance from her mother Charlotte Heber-Percy, who had received it from her father Sir Cyril Kleinwort. Mrs. Prest’s maiden name was Joanna Alice Serena.
Rupert Prest, who was not present at the court but submitted a statement to the inquest, stated that he and Serena had married in 1993 and that Serena had suffered from mental health concerns and had been taking antidepressants for a number of years. According to him, she had a head injury in November 2021 when she was thrown from her horse. She was unconscious for five to ten minutes.
That accident had a devastating impact on her, and her antidepressants appeared to lose their effectiveness as a result. She had visited a number of general practitioners as well as specialists, but she was still not feeling any better. She had previously shown intent to take her own life, even going so far as to state that she planned to crash her car into a tree.
Mr. Prest stated that he was of the opinion that it would be prudent to conceal the keys to the gun cabinet in the home; nonetheless, it appeared that his wife had discovered them in some way. He made sure the cabinet was checked three weeks before she passed away, and all of the firearms were there. He hid both sets of keys, and after she passed away, both sets of keys were still in their respective hiding places; however, one of the guns had been missing.
According to Mr. Prest, his wife got up between 7:00 and 7:30 a.m. on the morning of June 6th. Around eight in the morning, he heard a loud gunshot and hurried downstairs, where he discovered an envelope with a note from Serena that was addressed to him. He stated that he went outside, wandered about the garden for around five minutes, and then located her there.
At the inquest, Detective Sergeant Alexander Pockett of the Gloucestershire Police, who also responded to the scene, testified as follows: ‘Mr. Prest stated that Mrs. Prest had left a suicide note, along with her mobile phone and paperwork, on the kitchen table.’ A firearm had been removed from the safe that was kept in the family home. It appeared as though she had accidentally shot herself in the head with the shotgun. A paramedic arrived on the scene and confirmed the patient’s death.
In my judgment, there is nothing strange about the circumstances surrounding the death of Mrs. Prest, and there was no involvement from a third party. It appears as though Mrs. Prest has committed suicide by shooting herself in the head with the shotgun. During the inquest, a pathologist by the name of Dr. Terry Jones performed an autopsy and determined that a shotgun wound to the head was the cause of death. There was no evidence of alcohol intake or use of any illicit substances like narcotics or prescription found in her system.
“It seems to me that I have sufficient evidence to be able to conclude this very sad inquiry,” stated the assistant coroner. According to the available data, Mrs. Prest passed away on June 6th, 2022 at Eyeford House, which served as her primary residence. I am willing to agree that a head wound caused by a shotgun was the cause of death. I have taken note of what was written, but I won’t make any further reference to it. In my opinion, it does point to the fact that the deceased person intended to end her own life by taking her own life.