Paolo Liuzzo, the former boyfriend of Princess Beatrice, was found dead inside a Florida hotel room on February 7th. According to the Sun, Miami police were called to Liuzzo’s room at the citizenM Miami Worldcenter hotel at 3:22 p.m. He was pronounced dead 12 minutes later. Police told the outlet that Liuzzo’s death is being investigated as an “overdose death”. His body was transported from Miami, Fla., back to his native, Long Island, NY, where a funeral was held on Feb. 16.
Liuzzo and Princess Beatrice began dating in 2005 when she was 17 and he was 24. Their romance was approved by Beatrice’s parents, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, who even invited Liuzzo to join the family on a skiing vacation in Verbier, Switzerland. At the time, the Duchess of York expressed support for her daughter’s relationship despite their age difference. “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 said in a public statement.
However, Liuzzo had a troubled past. Before his relationship with Beatrice, he was charged with the manslaughter of Jonathan R. Duchatellier, a fellow student at the College of the Holy Cross, after they got into a drunken fistfight. His charge was later reduced to assault and battery, and he served 100 hours of community service. When his romance with Beatrice became public, he was sent back to the US for violating his three-year probation, which was extended by six months.
At the time of his death, Liuzzo was employed as an art industry consultant and resided close to the hotel where he reportedly died. Beatrice, 35, has not yet commented on Liuzzo’s death. In 2020, she married entrepreneur Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and they share a 2-year-old daughter named Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi. Liuzzo’s death comes just weeks after Pippa Middleton’s ex-boyfriend, Thomas Kingston, died at age 45 from a gunshot wound to the head.
