Screenwriter, musician and performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey died of natural causes, coroner rules

Kit Hesketh-Harvey, the musician, composer and screenwriter, died of natural causes, a coroner has ruled.

The artist died suddenly at the age of 65 from heart disease, the family told The Independent.

He was in the bath, listening to Radio 3 and preparing for one of his Kit & McConnel comedy cabaret shows at the time of his death on 1 February.

Hesketh-Harvey, who performed for King Charles, enjoyed a prolific career that included writing the screenplay for director James Ivory’s 1987 film Maurice. The film starred a young Hugh Grant in one of his first onscreen roles.

He was the brother of Sarah Sands, journalist and former editor of the Evening Standard. Sands - who is also coping with the loss of her actor ex-husband Julian Sands who went missing last month during a mountain hike in California - spoke of her shock at her brother’s death at the time, telling The Independent: “Kit was dazzling – clever, original, funny, kind.

“The last time I saw him he was busy mapping out pilgrim routes across Norfolk; there was always the next adventure, the next joke. He gave and gave and gave.”

Hesketh-Harvey worked with Richard Curtis on the BBC’s hit comedy series The Vicar of Dibley, which starred Dawn French in the title role.

With pianist Richard Sisson, a fellow member of Cambridge’s Footlights drama club, he formed the cabaret double-act Kit and The Widow, in a partnership that lasted three decades before concluding in 2012.

Up to the date of his death, he performed as Kit & McConnel with James McConnel, writing and performing original comedy cabaret songs, on any subject, ranging from politics to Wet Wipes.

He is survived by his ex-wife Katie Rabett, and his two children, Augusta and Rollo. They shared a house in Norfolk and a holiday home in Cornwall.