Philip Treacy Picture 1310193

Pic: Philip Treacy. The funeral of style icon Isabella Blow at Gloucester Cathedral.. Gloucester, England - 15.05.07. . * BLOW DIED OF 'DRUG OVERDOSE'. LATEST: English fashion stylist ISABELLA BLOW died of a drug overdose, not cancer as previously thought, according to an inquest.. Blow, the fashion director of Tatler magazine, died at the age of 48 last week (07May07) after supposedly succumbing to a long battle with ovarian cancer.. However, at the opening of an inquest into her death on Thursday (10May07), Gloucestershire, England, coroner David Dooley said a post-mortem showed the presence of paraquat, a highly poisonous herbicide, in her body.. Dooley said, "Mrs Blow had been taken to hospital on Saturday 5th May having been found in a poorly state by her sister. In hospital she told doctors she had taken paraquat and tests proved positive for this liquid.. "The initial cause of death was given by the pathologist, Professor Neil Shepherd, as death from the effects of a drug overdose. I have queried this with the Professor and he says that is the right way of describing the pharmacological effect of any chemical on the body.". Blow, who recently discovered she had ovarian cancer, had previously attempted to commit suicide several times. In 2006 she took a drug overdose and in 2005, she threw herself off a motorway flyover.. Her husband Detmar Blow lost his own father to a paraquat overdose.. The inquest will continue in October (07). (ES/WNBIN&WNBTI/MT)