Princess Eugenie posts tribute to 'special friend' Michelle Trachtenberg

Princess Eugenie has posted a tribute to Michelle Trachtenberg after the actress's death.

The Gossip Girl and Buffy the Vampire Slayer star, 39, was found dead at her home in New York City on Wednesday.

An investigation into her death has been opened but "criminality is not suspected", police said.

In a post on Instagram today, Princess Eugenie thanked Trachtenberg for "so many memories".

"Goodbye special friend. You are so loved and missed," she wrote.

"Thank you for so many memories of laughter and fun. You were so thoughtful and generous and sooo funny.

"My favourite was listening to you order food, always done with precision so you got exactly what we all wanted.

"I'm thinking of you up there friend, of your spirit that was so bright and your joy you brought to so many."

Eugenie previously lived in New York and in 2013, she was seen attending a basketball game at Madison Square Garden with Trachtenberg.

The actress shared numerous social media updates featuring the princess over the years.

In 2020, she hailed her as "one of the most dearest, kindest, most genuine friends I have ever had in my life" and four years prior, she wrote: "There are few people in life that you meet that you know are true and real. This lady happens to be one of them."

Buffy and Gossip Girl co-stars pay tribute

Trachtenberg was best known for playing Dawn Summers in Buffy, the younger sister of the title character played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, and starring as Georgina Sparks in Gossip Girl.

Paying tribute to her co-star, Gellar shared a series of pictures of herself and Trachtenberg, alongside a caption referencing a scene from the hit show.

"Michelle listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will always love you. The hardest thing in this world, is to live in it. I will be brave. I will live… for you," she wrote.

James Marsters, who played punk vampire Spike, told fans on Instagram: "My heart is heavy today. We have lost a beautiful soul.

"Michelle was fiercely intelligent, howlingly funny, and a very talented person. She died much too young, and leaves behind scores of people who knew and loved her."

A number of Trachtenberg's Gossip Girl co-stars have also shared tributes on social media, with Blake Lively - who starred as Serena van der Woodsen in the teen drama - writing on Instagram: "Everything she did, she did 200%."

Lively added: "She laughed the fullest at someone's joke, she faced authority head on when she felt something was wrong, she cared deeply about her work, she was proud to be a part of this community and industry as painful as it could be sometimes, she was fiercely loyal to her friends and brave for those she loved, she was big and bold and distinctly herself."

Taylor Momsen, Gossip Girl's Jenny Humphrey, said: "I will miss you everyday my love."

"I'll miss our late night calls that no one should ever hear but us," she wrote. "She was always in my corner and there to support me whether I was right or wrong.

"I think we truly understood each other and I am so grateful to have had a friend like you in my life for so long."

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"Michelle was one of a kind," wrote fellow Gossip Girl star Chace Crawford. "I remember her coming on set for the first time and just absolutely owning it.

"She was a force of nature and just so so unapologetically funny and magnetic.. remembering those years with a big smile. Just a terrible loss. Love you."

"Rest in peace sweet Michelle," Kim Cattrall wrote alongside a picture of herself and Trachtenberg in the 2005 film Ice Princess.

Kate Beckinsale posted: "What a terrible shock and loss, my god. My heart aches for your mama. Fly safe little bird."

Trachtenberg's most recent film appearance came last year, when she played the role of Michelle Cody White in Spyral.

Police said an investigation into her death has been opened but "criminality is not suspected".

(c) Sky News 2025: Princess Eugenie posts tribute to 'special friend' Michelle Trachtenberg