Princess Eugenie pays tribute to 'special friend' Michelle Trachtenberg

Princess Eugenie has paid tribute to her friend Michelle Trachtenberg after the actress was found dead on Wednesday.

The Princess of York took to her personal Instagram account and wrote: "Goodbye special friend. You are so loved and missed. Thank you for so many memories and laughter and fun. You were so thoughtful and generous and sooo funny."

She added: "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, my friend, of your spirit that was so bright and the joy you brought to so many [heart emojis]."

The Princess of York has long been friends with the Hollywood actress, with the pair meeting sometime in 2013 while Eugenie was living in New York.

Their friendship became public in December of that year when the two were spotting watching a basketball match at Madison Square Garden.

Trachtenberg, known from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl, was confirmed dead at the age of 39 after emergency medical services were called to One Columbus Place in New York on Wednesday morning US time, the city's police department said.

Police said a medical examiner will determine the cause of her death but it is not being treated as suspicious.

A representative for Trachtenberg said: "It is with great sadness to confirm that Michelle has passed away. The family requests privacy for their loss. There are no further details at this time."

Born in 1985 in New York, Trachtenberg began her acting career at the age of three, appearing in adverts before landing roles on TV.

She went on to secure a role in children's sitcom, The Adventures Of Pete & Pete, and in 1996's Harriet The Spy as an 11-year-old given to spying and concocting outrageous lies to embellish her journal.

She was also known for playing Penny in the 1999 spy film Inspector Gadget, Jenny in the 2004 movie EuroTrip, 2005 sports comedy Ice Princess, 2009 teen comedy 17 Again alongside Zac Efron, and most recently she reprised her role in the second series of the Gossip Girl sequel.

Trachtenberg played young socialite Georgina Sparks of Manhattan's Upper East Side who created havoc throughout the show, blackmailing Serena van der Woodsen (Lively), among other schemes, and previously said she knew a lot of people from the Upper East Side in her 20s, who were "very similar to the Gossip Girl characters and involved in that world".