Gately died Oct. 10, aged 33, while vacationing on the Spanish island of Mallorca. An autopsy found he had died of natural causes from pulmonary edema, or fluid in the lungs.

Daily Mail columnist Jan Moir wrote in a column Friday that Gately’s death was “not, by any yardstick, a natural one” and said he died in “sleazy” circumstances, She noted that Gately, who came out publicly as gay in 1999, had been to a bar and invited a young Bulgarian man back to his apartment the night before he died.

Moir concluded that “under the carapace of glittering, hedonistic celebrity, the ooze of a very different and more dangerous lifestyle has seeped out for all to see.”

Anger at the column swept social networking site Twitter soon after Moir’s piece appeared on the paper’s Web site. Actor Stephen Fry urged his 860,000 Twitter followers to contact the Press Complaints Commission. Other prominent Tweeters followed suit, and provided links to the commission’s Web site.

Advertisers including retail chain Marks and Spencer asked to have their ads removed from the Mail Web page carrying Moir’s column.

In a blog post Monday, Fry called Moir’s column an “epically ill-judged piece of gutter journalism.”

Moir defended her article, claiming suggestions of homophobia were “mischievous” and suggesting the backlash was a “heavily orchestrated Internet campaign.”

The commission said Monday it had received “by far the highest number of complaints ever” about a single article. It said it would write to the newspaper seeking a response before deciding whether to take further action.

Irish boy band Boyzone sold millions of albums in the 1990s and had six British No. 1 singles, including “All That I Need” and a cover of the Bee Gees’ “Words.”

Under the British media’s self-regulatory system, newspapers are bound to adhere to the commission’s code of practice, which includes commitments to accuracy, respect for privacy and avoiding “pejorative reference” to an individual’s race, color, religion or disability.

A post-mortem showed Gately, 33, an Irishman, died as a result of a pulmonary edema, or fluid in the lungs, the Balearic Islands Superior Justice Tribunal said in a statement.

“The signer of the British group Boyzone died from natural causes, owing to an ‘acute pulmonary edema’,” the court statement said.

“The autopsy carried out this morning showed there were no signs of violence to the body,” it said, adding that Gately’s remains could now be flown home.

Gately was found dead on Saturday in a house near Port d’Andratx on the western tip of Mallorca. The singer had gone to Mallorca with his partner Andrew Cowles. The two were wed in a civil union in 2006.

The court said tissue samples from the singer’s body would be sent to a laboratory in Barcelona for further analysis, and that unless information contradicting the autopsy result emerged, the investigation would be closed.

The court said Cowles gave a statement at the court in the Mallorca capital of Palma on Tuesday. Other witnesses were also expected to give statements.

Spanish news reports said the two had been out drinking and that the singer had later choked on his own vomit.

Spanish police said they were called to the scene on Saturday afternoon.

The house, situated on an exclusive tree-lined seafront street, overlooks a rocky bay reputed to have some of the best sunset views on Spain’s favorite holiday island.

The four other members of the band flew to Mallorca following news of the death.

Boyzone was one of the biggest acts to come out of Ireland in the 1990s. The group was a major hitmaker in Britain and Ireland in the 1990s and announced a comeback tour at the end of last year.

Gately also released several solo singles and appeared in stage musicals. He made headlines when he announced he was gay a decade ago.

News of his death shocked the British and Irish pop world.

Elton John said Sunday that he and his partner, David Furnish, were “stunned by this tragedy.”