Cilla Black died of a stroke after falling at Spanish villa, sons confirm

Cilla Black died of a stroke after falling at her Spanish villa, it has been confirmed, as the TV star’s sons said they were “devastated by the sad loss of our mother”.

Black’s family announced on Tuesday that they have a conclusive postmortem report on how she died, with authorities in Spain permitting her body to be returned to the UK.

The former Blind Date host, whose show business career spanned five decades, died at her home in Estepona near Marbella in Spain on Sunday.

“Cilla was sunbathing on her private terrace at her villa in Estepona, got up, lost her balance and fell hitting her head, which knocked her unconscious, and she subsequently died of a stroke. She would not have suffered,” a family statement released on Tuesday said.

Black was found by her son Bobby, 44. Newspaper reports had speculated the extreme heat in Spain may have been a contributing factor, where the summer is the hottest in 40 years.

“We are devastated by the sad loss of our mother, but have been deeply touched by all the kind messages of support from her friends, fans, the public and media,” her three sons, Bobby, Ben and Jack, said in a statement. “We would like to thank everyone, especially the people of Liverpool. The tributes and condolences have really helped us through these difficult times.” Confirmation of the cause of death was delayed as forensic experts had asked first responders for more information about the circumstances of the discovery of Black’s body and to carry out further tests, not because foul play was suspected, a spokeswoman from Andalucía’s high court told the Guardian.

“It was simply to have a more complete picture of what had happened,” she said, adding: “What we can say, however, is that she died of natural causes.”

The spokeswoman said: “Possible theories being considered include that she fell, she tripped over something or she had a dizzy spell after being in the sun. But what is clear is that an accident provoked her death, and it’s clear there was no third person, there was nothing violent about her death.”

The spokeswoman said the family would be told they could now bring the star’s body back to the UK and begin making funeral arrangements, should they wish. “There’s no issue around this,” she said.

Her sons said they intend to bring their mother home as soon as possible and asked for privacy to grieve.