Daughter learned by WhatsApp message that her mother died by assisted suicide

Royal knew her mother had been struggling with mental health issues and had sadly attempted to take her own life a year prior due to grief after the deaths of “two sisters” (though it is unclear from media reports if the sisters were Slough’s or Royal’s).

Royal told the Irish Independent she and her mother’s partner, Mick Lynch, “received a heartbreaking WhatsApp message, which allegedly said her mum had died listening to gospel music sung by Elvis Presley.”

Lynch told the Independent, “I was actually talking to [Slough] that morning and she was full of life. She said she was after having her ­breakfast and she was going out to sit in the sun. Maybe she was heading off to that place. I still thought she was coming home.”

The Pegasos Association has claimed it received a letter from Royal in which she confirmed she knew of her mother’s wishes to die, and although she was saddened by it she had accepted it. Pegasos further claimed the letter was verified through email. But Royal denies this and believes her mother may have forged the letter and created a false email for verification.

According to the Independent:

[Slough’s] brother Philip, a UK solicitor, has now written to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in the UK, asking it to investigate the matter with Swiss authorities.In his letter, he said Pegasos did not rigorously follow its own policy to inform a family. He said while he understands Ms Slough represented to the clinic that this had been done by the letter purportedly written by Ms Royal, the clinic only sought ­confirmation through an email provided by Ms Slough.“I am working on the assumption that my sister created this email and the clinic’s procedures were woefully inadequate in verification,” he wrote.“It appears my sister provided ­Pegasos with letters of complaint to medical authorities in Éire in respect of bogus medical conditions, and that these documents were considered by Pegasos in support of her application. While I understand that Swiss law permits assisted dying, the Pegasos clinic has faced numerous criticisms in the UK for their practices with British nationals, and the circumstances in which my sister took her life are highly questionable.

In addition to the startlingly inappropriate way her mother’s death was both revealed and handled, the family was informed that Slough’s ashes would be delivered to them by mail. 

The Bottom Line:

Slough’s family is not alone in suffering the loss of a loved one through the Pegasos Association’s practices.

In 2003, Alistair Hamilton, a 47-year-old teacher from London, died at Pegasos without his family’s knowledge; the group claimed it had informed his family. Likewise, in 2025, 51-year-old grieving mother Anne Canning also ended her life through the Pegasos clinic, which claimed it had attempted to reach her family; Canning’s family had no knowledge of this.

Pegasos’ website states, “Pegasos, a non-profit based in Basel, Switzerland, believes that it is the human right of every rational adult of sound mind, regardless of state of health, to choose the manner and timing of their death.”

Swiss Law has supported assisted suicide since 1942.

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