Princess Beatrice’s ex-boyfriend Paolo Liuzzo has been found dead from a suspected overdose in a Miami hotel room.
Officer Michael Vega, of the Miami Police Department, told The Sun police attended a room at the citizenM Miami Worldcenter hotel at 3.22pm on February 7.
The cause of death has not officially been reported, but officer Vega said: ‘It was investigated as an overdose death. The investigation is open and ongoing.’
The princess, who is a daughter of the disgraced Prince Andrew, started dating Liuzzo in 2005 when she was aged 17 and he was 24, but the pair separated in 2006.
Insiders have revealed that Liuzzo struggled with gambling as well as drugs, and claimed he had racked up debts with loan sharks, according to The Sun. A friend of Liuzzo told The Sun: ‘Paolo was not doing great on a personal level.
Princess Beatrice ‘s ex-boyfriend Paolo Liuzzo has been found dead from a suspected overdose in a Miami hotel room
The cause of death has not officially been reported, but is being investigated by Miami police as an overdose
Miami police said Luizzo was found dead at citizenM Miami Worldcenter hotel
‘He began using a lot of pharmaceutical drugs at first but that later led to cocaine and harder drugs. It was a very fast lifestyle and we all feared it would catch up with him eventually.’
Liuzzo had reportedly struggled with drugs and was previously arrested in Australia over a string of offenses including possessing cocaine.
He was arrested on the Gold Coast on September 27, 2009, after crashing an $90,0000 black Audi hire car into traffic lights.
The then-27-year-old also failed to pay for accommodation and restaurant bills at Conrad Jupiters casino.
Australian law enforcement charged Liuzzo with fraud, unlawful use of a motor vehicle, possessing two grams of cocaine and driving without due care and attention. Liuzzo pleaded guilty and was fined $5,000.
His controversial past began in 2002 when he was charged with the manslaughter of a fellow student at the College of the Holy Cross.
His fellow student, 19-year-old Jonathan R. Duchatellier, died as a result of a fight that took place on May 5, 2002 in an off-campus apartment building at 510 Cambridge St. which involved Liuzzo.
The charge was later reduced to assault and Liuzzo served a community sentence.
Liuzzo, who is from Woodbury, New York, was considered a U.S. socialite at the time of his romance with Beatrice.
Liuzzo and Beatrice met through mutual friends and began dating in July 2005 and they managed to keep the relationship secret for almost a year – but they split in May 2006 when reports of the manslaughter charge surfaced, causing a sensation.
Prince Andrew and Ferguson encouraged Beatrice’s romance with Liuzzo, despite the seven year age difference and his criminal past.
‘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,’ Beatrice’s mother when the relationship began.
The royal pair invited Liuzzo on a family vacation to the exclusive Swiss ski resort Verbier.
It subsequently emerged that Liuzzo had flouted the conditions of his probation to holiday with the Queen’s granddaughter and her family – including Prince Andrew and the Duchess of York – in Switzerland in 2006.
As a result he was hauled back to the U.S. where he had his three-year probation extended by the courts as punishment, forcing Beatrice to end the fledgling romance.
Miami police are investigating the death, which took place on February 7, as a suspected overdose
Liuzzo (pictured in court right) had reportedly struggled with drugs and was previously arrested in Australia over a string of offenses including possessing cocaine
In 2007 he embarrassed the Royal Family by claiming marijuana was smoked in the presence of Beatrice, her sister Eugenie and their mother, Sarah Ferguson, while they were on holiday in Jamaica.
He was among a party of eight including the Princesses who went on a ten-day holiday to the Caribbean in 2005.
The self-described playboy also confessed to cheating on Beatrice during their relationship – and said she had wanted to introduce him to the Queen.
Beatrice was reportedly heartbroken when their romance ended and she returned to Goldsmiths, which is part of the University of London.
Liuzzo’s death certificate revealed that he had been working as a consultant in the art industry and had never married.
His body was transported to Long Island, New York, where he grew up and a funeral was held on February 16.
