Tragic death of Alan Bond's wife

BOND AND BLISS: Australian businessman Alan Bond with Diana Bliss at Bond Uni Law Ball, Surfers Paradise in 2000.

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The wife of disgraced Australian tycoon Alan Bond has reportedly died in their luxury beachside house in Perth.

Police said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death yesterday.

Bond married Diana Bliss, his second wife, in 1995.

''About 11.30am our time today Western Australian Police were notified by St John Ambulance of a deceased woman located at Hawkstone Street, Cottesloe,'' a police spokeswoman said.

Bond, 73, was reportedly at home at the time.

There were suggestions last night that Bliss was struggling with personal issues and friends had been concerned.

The Perth Now news website reported that Sue Parks, a publicist for the Bond family, said the family did not want to make any statement.

Bond married Bliss, a theatre producer, after he had been discharged as a bankrupt. He divorced his first wife, Eileen Bond, in 1992.

Bond served four years in prison for fraud and was released in 2000. During the hearings and trial, Bond's lawyers claimed he had Alzheimer's disease, loss of memory, suffered depression and his IQ had dropped significantly.

Bliss staunchly supported Bond, who bankrolled and was head of Australia's historic America's Cup yachting victory in 1983.

Last night the Melbourne Festival artistic director, Brett Sheehy, remembered Bliss's many talents. ''She was absolutely a class act, beautiful, incredibly charming while at the same time completely unpretentious. Everyone who knew her in the theatre world loved her.''

She had an ability to spot talent. ''In 1997 she picked up the rights on a play by the then unknown writer Tracy Letts,'' Sheehy said.

Bond's daughter Susanne Bond, a showjumper, died in 2000 from a suspected accidental overdose of prescription medication. He said: ''Life is a fragile thing. We are only passing through this life on earth and we all have to face the inevitable. Unfortunately some of us go early.''

In a candid interview with Andrew Denton on the ABC in 2003, Bond said he remained friends with Eileen, the mother of his four children.

''I've had two wonderful wives, and I'm friendly with them both today ... we all have Christmas together,'' he said.

''I was also very fortunate that I met Diana ... a beautiful lady ... I've been blessed.''

The daughter of a Methodist minister, Bliss spent her early teens in Sydney. She met Bond in the 1980s in Perth and he asked her to run his corporate airline. Bliss also worked in fashion, had a short stint as a Qantas flight attendant and worked in public relations.

- Sydney Morning Herald and AAP