Princess Beatrice’s Ex-Boyfriend Paolo Liuzzo Found Dead In Miami Hotel

Perez Hilton

Princess Beatrice‘s infamous ex-boyfriend has passed away. More disturbing? He was found dead in a hotel room!

Yes, Paolo Liuzzo died at citizenM Miami Worldcenter hotel on February 7, according to a shocking report in The Sun. Officer Michael Vega of the Miami Police Department spilled to the outlet on Wednesday, saying cops arrived at his room at 3:22 p.m. and his time of death was confirmed just minutes later at 3:34 p.m. While the official cause of death has not been announced yet, Vega told the outlet:

“It was investigated as an overdose death. The investigation is open and ongoing.”

Paolo was 41. So sad.

Related: Princess Catherine Receives Historic New Royal Title From King Charles

A longtime friend of Liuzzo told the outlet that he “was not doing great on a personal level” at the time of his death, recounting the past few years:

“He loved to party and to gamble. 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.”

The insider added:

“He was always borrowing money to pay off old loans. It became a vicious cycle.”

As royal fans may remember, Paolo and Beatrice started dating in 2005 after meeting through friends. The princess was just 17 at the time, and he was 24.

Paolo was already a figure of controversy before dating the teen princess. Four years prior to their affair, he was charged with the manslaughter of a student at the College of The Holy Cross in Massachusetts after a fight at an off-campus apartment. The charge was ultimately downgraded to assault and battery, and he only had to serve 100 hours of community service.

Despite his messy past and the age gap, Beatrice’s parents Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson weren’t upset by the romance at all. (Though given what we’ve learned about Andrew, it’s not like he had much room to judge age gaps!) The relationship came to a crashing end after just one year. After Paolo attended a ski vacation with the family in 2006, he was sent back to the US for violating the terms of his probation (he was reportedly only supposed to travel abroad for work). He received three more years of probation as a result, and the romance soon came to an end.

Following the split, he tried tarnishing the royal family’s reputation by claiming Beatrice and her sister Princess Eugenie had attended a 2004 party where guests smoked weed and took magic mushrooms. He later bashed the romance altogether, claiming he was never that into the royal. Oof!

In 2009, Paolo — the son of Italian plastic resin tycoon Nico Liuzzo — was arrested again in Australia after crashing a car into traffic lights. He was also charged for allegedly failing to pay for accommodation and restaurant bills at a casino. He pleaded guilty to motoring offenses, fraud, and cocaine possession and was fined $5k. In more recent years, per The Sun, he had several other run-ins with the law over driving offenses.

He was working as a consultant in the art industry and not married at the time of his death, according to his death certificate. It also listed him as living in an apartment not far from the hotel where he was found. His body was reportedly transported to Long Island, New York, where he grew up, for a funeral that was held shortly after his passing.

So far, Beatrice has not publicly acknowledged the death. Innerestingly it would have occurred shortly after her mother announced her skin cancer diagnosis. So this has certainly been an emotional time for her. Sending our condolences to all of Paolo’s loved ones.

If you or someone you know is experiencing substance abuse, help is available. Consider checking out the resources SAMHSA provides at https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline or check out StartYourRecovery.org

[Image via MEGA/WENN]

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