The Duchess of York has paid tribute to her ‘loyal, hardworking and fun’ former assistant after she was found dead at her home in the US.

Jenean Chapman’s body was discovered inside her apartment in central Dallas, Texas, by police on Monday, according to NBC.

Officers are treating the 46-year-old’s death as murder and her husband James Patrick, 48, is being held in custody after he was arrested 200 miles south in Austin by the University of Texas Police.

Sarah Ferguson, who was married to Prince Andrew from 1986 to 1996, paid tribute in a post on Instagram alongside a picture of a smiling Ms Chapman.

She wrote: ‘I am shocked and saddened to learn that Jenean Chapman, who worked with me as my personal assistant many years ago, has been murdered in Dallas aged just 46. A suspect is in custody.

‘Jenean was loyal, hardworking, beautiful and fun and my heart breaks for her family and friends.

‘I heard from her just a couple of months ago and she seemed so happy.’

Sarah, also known by the nickname Fergie, said Ms Chapman’s family is raising money to transport her body back to New York City and pay for legal and funeral costs.

She added: ‘I will be making a donation and supporting the family in any way possible – please help if you can at the link in my bio.’

Ms Chapman’s family told NBC that she moved to Dallas around five months ago for a new job and that her new employees raised the alarm when she failed to turn up to work.

Investigators believe she could have died several days before she was found and the family say they are in a ‘state of shock’ and feel ‘blindsided’ by the tragedy.

Her sister Nicole Marshall said that she had been in an on-off relationship and had recently got married.

Another sister, Crystal Marshall said: ‘Her first job out of college was working with Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York.

‘So she worked with the royal family as a personal assistant, and then from there, she worked at Def Jam, so she worked with the Simmons family.’

The family added that they are ‘relieved’ an arrest has been made and ‘just want justice’ for what has happened.

Two weeks ago, a man who broke into Windsor Castle with a crossbow to try and kill the late Queen Elizabeth II was forced to apologise to the Royal Family.

Earlier this month, billionaire businessman Mohamed Al Fayed died at the age of 94 – his son Dodi was killed alongside Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris in August 1997.

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