RIP

Queen Elizabeth is in mourning after her faithful companion died at Windsor Castle ... people knew it was coming but it's still a heartbreaking loss.

The Queen's beloved Corgi, Whisper, has passed after an interesting 12-year run at life.

Q.E. adopted the pooch from a former staffer back in 2016. The staffer died and the Queen adopted Whisper. It's her second big loss ... her other Corgi, Willow, died earlier this year.

Aretha Franklin is getting dogged in death over legal bills ... TMZ has learned.

The late singer's lawyer, Gregory Reed, apparently had some trouble collecting what Aretha owed him when she was alive ... so he's now hoping her estate will cough up some financial R-E-S-P-E-C-T. It sounds harsh, so soon after Aretha's passing, but Reed's filed docs demanding the estate pony up nearly $54k to cover bills dating back 6 years.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Reed's firm says it provided a number of services to the Queen of Soul -- who died in August -- including negotiations on her final Atlantic Records contract. The firm says her last payment, for about $10k, was made in August 2012.

Seems Reed doesn't want to be added to anyone's chain-chain-chaaaain ... chain of fools.

Country and blues icon Tony Joe White -- who had the huge '60s hit "Polk Salad Annie" -- has died ... according to his record label.

White died Wednesday in Nashville, according to his label, Yep Roc Music Group -- however, they did not release details about the cause of death.

He performed and wrote tunes in several genres -- including country, rock, blues and R&B -- but scored his biggest hit for himself with 'Polk Salad' in 1969.

The song was covered by the likes of Tom Jones and even Elvis Presley.

He also wrote the hits "Rainy Night in Georgia" for Ray Charles ... "Undercover Agent for the Blues" and also "Steamy Windows" -- which Tina Turner turned into a Top 40 hit when she covered it in 1989.

Over the course of his career ... Tony recorded 20 albums, with the most recent one being "Bad Mouthin'," which released was on September 28 of this year.

He was 75.

"Modern Family" fans wondering who the "significant" character was to be killed off this season finally had their question answered Wednesday night.

SPOILER AHEAD!!!

The ABC sitcom's co-creator Christopher Lloyd revealed one of the series' familiar faces would kick the bucket before the end of season 10. Many speculated it would be Ed O'Neill's Jay Pritchett or Stella, the Pritchett family pooch.

Turns out ... it was neither.

The character to kick the bucket was DeDe Pritchett -- played by Shelley Long -- who was Jay's ex-wife and Claire Dunphy (Julie Bowen) and Mitchell Pritchett's (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) mom.

To say DeDe was a "significant" character through the show's 10 seasons is a stretch -- she only appeared in a handful of episodes -- but it was a loss none the less.

Lauren McCluskey -- the Utah track star who was brutally murdered on campus this week -- will be honored by the entire Utes football team when they take on UCLA Friday.

The school announced players will wear a black and white sticker featuring a winged foot with Lauren's name on it ... in remembrance of the slain student.

As we previously reported ... 21-year-old McCluskey -- a 2017 honorable mention Pac-12 All-Academic -- was shot to death by her ex-bf on Monday after finding out he was a registered sex offender.

Utah announced in addition to the helmet decals ... they'll hand out a similar sticker at this week's women's volleyball and women's soccer games to remember her legacy.

For their part ... UCLA says it'll hold a moment of silence for McCluskey at the Rose Bowl.

Rae Carruth has informed officials he's planning on moving to Pennsylvania now that he's out of prison -- though it's unclear why he's chosen that state or what he's planning to do there.

TMZ Sports spoke with the Pennsylvania Parole Board and a rep confirmed that Carruth is now under their supervision.

We're told Carruth must still abide by the same release conditions imposed on him by the state of North Carolina, where he served his prison time -- which include routine meetings with a parole officer and staying out of trouble. The usual stuff.

Carruth was released on Monday morning -- nearly 19 years after he participated in the shooting death of his girlfriend, Cherica Adams, who was 8 months pregnant with their child.

Rae and Cherica's son survived the shooting -- though he now has severe disabilities -- and lives with Cherica's mother in North Carolina.

A 21-year-old University of Utah track star was abducted and shot to death on campus late Monday night -- and her parents believe it was all because she discovered a horrible secret about the killer.

Lauren McCluskey -- a 2017 honorable mention Pac-12 All-Academic -- had been dating a man named Melvin Rowland for about a month ... until Oct. 9, when she found out he was a registered sex offender.

Lauren's parents say, while the two were dating, Rowland had lied to her about his name, his age and his criminal history, which included a 2004 conviction for attempted forcible sex abuse and enticing a minor over the internet.

Fast forward to Monday night at 8 PM when Lauren was talking with her mother on the phone while leaving campus ... and she was abducted in a school parking lot.

"Suddenly, I heard her yell, "No, no, no!" Lauren's mother says ... "I thought she might have been in a car accident. That was the last I heard from her. My husband called 911."

Lauren was found shot to death in her car. Witnesses report hearing several gunshots. Cops launched an all-out manhunt for the suspect and tracked him down outside of a church in Salt Lake City.

Cops say Rowland forced his way inside the building early Tuesday morning and shot himself to death.

School president Ruth V. Watkins announced all classes Tuesday have been canceled and an on-campus vigil is being set for Wednesday evening.

"As a campus community, we share grief over this tragic loss of life," Watkins wrote ... "Our deepest sympathy is extended to Lauren’s family and friends."

Ron Jeremy says he's pretty sure his good friend, Dennis Hof, died a happy death ... but discovering his body was definitely tough.

We got Ron Monday night on the Sunset Strip in front of the Rainbow Room and asked about finding the famed Bunny Ranch owner dead in his bed. Ron tells us he's spent many a day waking Dennis up all over the world, but something was definitely amiss last week.

Rae Carruth -- the piece of garbage NFL star WR who hired a hitman to kill his pregnant girlfriend -- was released from prison Monday morning, 19 years after the deadly incident.

Rae was a talented football player -- the Carolina Panthers took him in the 1st round of the 1997 NFL Draft and made the NFL All-Rookie Team after a pretty solid rookie season.

But, he threw it all away in Nov. 1999 when he conspired with a gunman to murder 24-year-old Cherica Adams, who was 8 months pregnant with his child.

Officials say Carruth and Adams got in separate cars after a movie date and once they got on the road, he blocked her vehicle so the gunman could have a clean shot.

Adams was hit 4 times but managed to call 911 -- and emergency personnel were able to perform an emergency C-section and save the baby. Cherica died 4 weeks later.

The child, Chancellor Lee Adams, was born with severe cerebral palsy due to trauma from the shooting. He's been raised by Cherica's mother, Saundra, ever since.

Rae was hit with several criminal charges -- but when the time came to turn himself into authorities, he infamously ran like the coward he is. He was later found hiding in the trunk of a car in Tennessee.

Carruth was ultimately convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, attempting to destroy an unborn child and discharging a firearm into occupied property.

He was sentenced to 18 to 24 years in prison.

Carruth -- now 44 years old -- told WBTV in a recent interview he's "excited" to get out of prison but nervous about how he'll be received by the public, acknowledging there is "so much hate and negativity toward me."

The former head of the RNC doesn't believe a word of Saudi Arabia's explanation of how journalist Jamal Khashoggi died, and he doesn't buy Trump's denial of financial ties there.

We got Michael Steele Saturday at the L.A. Convention Center during Politicon 2018 and asked what he made of Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor insisting that Khashoggi had gotten into a fist fight inside the country's consulate in Turkey ... which led to his death.

It's clear he thinks the Saudi Arabian goverment's full of it -- as he describes just how unlikely it is for such a scenario to play out ... especially in light of how brutal his murder has been described by Turkish officials. He's said to have been dismembered.

Dennis Hof's longtime pal in the sex biz, Heidi Fleiss, tells us the famous brothel owner's sugary diet and poor eating habits played a major role in his death.

Heidi would know better than anyone ... she's known Dennis forever and tells us he was constantly chowing down on an insane amount of Fudgsicles before and after dinner, and things got so bad recently, Dennis could barely walk.

Dennis' eating habits were so out of whack, Heidi says the famous pimp equated a Taco Bell salad to kale. She's convinced Dennis' declining health was a direct result of his poor diet, and believes it contributed to Hof's death.

The two longtime friends were planning to turn things around with a health retreat, but Heidi says they never got the chance.

As we first reported ... Dennis' Love Ranch has been shut down in the wake of his sudden death, and the future of his other brothel, the Bunny Ranch, is also up in the air.

Journalist Jamal Khashoggi got into a brawl inside Saudi Arabia's consulate in Turkey ... and that led to his death ... according to Saudi officials finally speaking out about the controversial and brutal incident.

The Saudi kingdom's public prosecutor says the Washington Post reporter -- who was last seen inside the Saudi Consulate on October 2 -- got into an argument with men inside the building, and a fistfight broke out. The prosecutor isn't saying what sparked the argument, or how Khashoggi actually died.

The prosecutor says 18 Saudis have been arrested in connection to the case.

Turkish officials have claimed Khashoggi -- a harsh critic of the Saudi kingdom -- was dismembered inside the Consulate by a team of more than 10 Saudi agents.

Paul Allen's cause of death was the septic shock brought on by his battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma ... TMZ has learned.

We obtained Allen's death certificate, and it lists septic shock and immunosuppression as causes of death ... but both were clearly the result of his cancer. According to the document ... Allen died Monday at 12:35 PM at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle.

The Microsoft cofounder had announced nearly 3 weeks ago his cancer had returned after 9 years of remission.

Allen owned the Seattle Seahawks and the Portland Trailblazers, and cofounded Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975. His estimated net worth was north of $20 billion. Allen was never married and had no children. He was 65.

According to the death certificate, he opted to be buried instead of cremation.

You're gonna have to go somewhere else to fulfill your wildest fantasies ... because we've learned Dennis Hof's famous Nevada whorehouse closed its doors the day he died.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the Love Ranch was shut down Tuesday immediately after the owner's death.

Dennis was the sole owner of the famous brothel where Lamar Odom overdosed, and no one else is legally permitted to run the biz. The Love Ranch had its prostitution and liquor licenses stripped, 'cause Dennis was the only name on the paperwork.

Other sources tell us sheriffs hit up the Love Ranch Wednesday night and took away the girls' permits to legally prostitute themselves. The women have been told to hit the road.

It's been a long time coming ... we're told sheriffs have been trying to close the Love Ranch ever since Dennis announced he was running for State Assembly.

The brothel's future looks bleak ... the Love Ranch can't reopen until someone else locks down licenses, and that person will have to prove they own the property, prove it can be financially stable and pass background checks. It's not clear who will inherit the property.

There's still some good news for those starved for sex ... Hof's other whorehouse, the Bunny Ranch, is still operating.

But, get those last pumps in quick, we're told the D.A. is exploring whether to shut down the Bunny Ranch as well.

Max Lomas -- the friend who discovered Bobbi Kristina submerged in a bathtub with a toxic mix of drugs in her system -- died from a fentanyl overdose himself ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us Lomas' official cause of death was "fentanyl toxicity," and his death was ruled accidental. We broke the story ... Lomas died of an overdose in Mississippi earlier this year, but it was unclear at the time what drug had caused it.

As we've reported ... Lomas was the guy who found Bobbi Kristina lifeless in a tub all those years ago, which eventually led to her death after she was taken off life support. A bunch of drugs were later found in her system.

Lomas was ID'd by some authorities as Bobbi Kristina and Nick Gordon's drug dealer, but he denied that. He was at their home in the hours leading up to her death.

Mike Tyson could barely contain his emotions while reflecting on the night his good friend, Tupac Shakur, was shot ... saying the rap legend was "really happy" just before he was gunned down.

Tyson and Pac were great friends in the '90s -- and he was Tyson's VIP guest the night he fought Bruce Seldon on September 7, 1996 at the MGM Grand in Vegas.

Tyson says Tupac was in great spirits during their last interaction at the post-fight press conference ... and remembers Pac talking "a bunch of sh*t" after his 1st-round TKO.

Of course, Tupac was shot 4 times while leaving the fight in Vegas by an unknown assailant while Suge Knight was in the driver's seat next to him. Pac died 6 days later.

Tyson choked back tears while recounting that night while sitting down with radio legend Big Boy from 92.3 ... saying, "It's very difficult to talk about. Young kid that wanted to be great and then that happened."

Tyson recalls being frustrated because he wasn't allowed to visit Pac in the hospital before he passed away.

But, Iron Mike says Pac's legacy lives on ... and he's still asked about the late MC wherever he goes.