Princess Beatrice’s ex-boyfriend found dead in Miami hotel after ‘drug overdose’
By Francesca Hangeior
Princess Beatrice’s ex-boyfriend has been found dead from a suspected overdose in a hotel room.
41-year-old Paolo Liuzzo was aged 21 when he dated 17-year-old Princess Beatrice back in 2005.
Miami Police found Paolo’s body after being called to a room in the citizenM Miami Worldcenter hotel at 3.22pm local time on February 7.
The cause of death has not yet been disclosed due to records laws in Florida, but Officer Michael Vega from Miami police says it was “investigated as an overdose death”, adding that the investigation is “open and ongoing”.
Sources disclosed that he had struggled with drugs and racked up gambling debt, and had several run-ins with the law including over cocaine possession.
Paolo’s death certificate said he had been working as an art industry consultant, had never married, and lived at an apartment building near the hotel.
His body was flown back to his home of Long Island, New York, for a funeral on February 16.
It’s been reported that Beatrice, who is the daughter of Prince Andrew, found out about Paolo’s death soon after her mum Sarah Ferguson’s skin cancer diagnosis.
She and Paolo started dating when she was aged 17 in 2005, but they separated a year later. They’d kept their relationship a secret until he joined her family’s ski holiday to Switzerland in 2006.