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Princess Beatrice’s former boyfriend, Paolo Liuzzo, has died at the age of 41.
Paulo, the son of an Italian plastic resin tycoon, was found dead at the Miami Worldcenter hotel in Miami in February and his death has only now been made public.
“It was investigated as an overdose death. The investigation is open and ongoing,” officer Michael Vega of the Miami Police Department told The Sun.
His funeral took place on 16 February in Long Island, New York, his place of birth.
A friend of his told The Sun that Paolo had “a very fast lifestyle.”
“Paolo wasn't doing great on a personal level. He loved to party and gamble. He began using a lot of pharmaceutical drugs, but that later led to cocaine and harder drugs,” the friend said.
Beatrice (35) dated Paolo in 2005 and the short-lived relationship ended in 2006. She was 17 at the time, while Paolo was 24.
Sarah Ferguson, who’s Beatrice’s mother and Prince Andrew’s ex-wife, expressed her thoughts about the relationship and the age gap at the time in a statement.
“We all have our own journeys and have to learn our way, but Beatrice is a sensible girl, soon to be 18, with many friends including Paolo,” she wrote.
The relationship was made public when Paolo was invited to join the family on a skiing holiday in Verbier, Switzerland.
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Back in 2002 during his college days in New York, Paolo was involved in a fight with fellow student Jonathan R Duchatellier, which resulted in Jonathan’s death. Paolo was initially charged with manslaughter but it was reduced to assault and battery. He did 100 hours of community service.
In terms of his probation conditions, he wasn’t allowed to travel abroad unless it was for work.
When his relationship with Beatrice caused a frenzy, Paolo was forced to return to the US and Beatrice ended their relationship.
Paolo continued to make headlines for the wrong reasons. In 2009 he crashed an expensive Audi rental in Australia.
He reportedly inherited the fortune of his resin tycoon father, Nico (62), after he died in 2001.
At the time of his death Paolo worked as an art industry consultant.
SOURCES: PAGESIX.COM, USMAGAZINE.COM, INDEPENDENT.CO.UK, THESUN.CO.UK
