Friends of former royal found dead of OD amid custody battle say ‘no way’ she touched narcotics

Friends of a US-born, former Qatari princess, whose sudden dead in her luxury Spanish penthouse in being investigated as an accidental overdose, say there is ‘no way’ she ever touched drugs.

‘I am 100 percent sure she did not die of an overdose,’ Louis Spagnuolo, a friend of the deceased Kasia Gallanio, 45, told the Daily Beast. 

The Los Angeles-native Gallanio was found dead in her bed in her apartment in May, weeks after her Qatari billionaire ex-husband, 73-year-old Sheikh Abdelaziz bin Khalifa Al Thani, won temporary custody of their 17-year-old twins and 15-year-old daughter. 

Sheikh Abdelaziz bin Khalifa Al Thani is also the uncle of the emir of Qatar and the Gulf state’s former minister of oil and finance .

A number of close friends and ‘confidants’ told the Daily Beast they did not believe Gallanio died of substance abuse, describing her as somebody who was so obsessed with her appearance and wellness that she would never touch narcotics.

The news comes after MailOnline exclusively revealed that Gallanio’s secret boyfriend, nightclub manager and singer Bruce Baps, did not think that Gallanio died of an overdose.

‘I don’t believe that she killed herself, but we are waiting for the results of the autopsy to know exactly what happened. It took four days until she was found so her body was in a state of decomposition,’ Baps told MailOnline.   

Baps also told MailOnline that Gallanio was attacked and robbed in her $2million penthouse in Puerto Banus, just outside of Marbella, Spain, and that she had been ‘scared for her life’ in the weeks following the attack.

Qatari billionaire Sheikh Abdelaziz bin Khalifa Al Thani (left) in Paris in 1980. Kasia Gallanio (right) 45, was found dead in her luxury penthouse in Marbella, Spain at the end of May. Initial reports say that she died of a drug overdose, but friends think otherwise

‘I am 100 percent sure she did not die of an overdose,’ Louis Spagnuolo, a friend of the deceased Kasia Gallanio, 45, told the Daily Beast

See also  British soldier is killed in Ukraine: UK father is third Brit to die fighting Russian forces

‘I don’t believe that she killed herself,’ Gallanio’s secret boyfriend exclusively told MailOnline

One of Gallanio’s daughters notified Spanish police after she had been unable to get in contact with her mother for four days. 

Officers broke into her apartment – a minute’s walk from the Puerto Banus marina packed with multi-million pound yachts – and found her dead in her bed, being guarded by her faithful Pomeranian dog called Honey, MailOnline revealed. 

A spokesperson for Marbella Police told MailOnline that her death was not being treated as suspicious, saying: ‘The police investigating this case are not looking for any other suspects.’

‘So far there has been no result. Reports in the media saying that forensic personnel have found alcohol or other substances have not been substantiated by official sources.’

Spanish media had reported that she is believed to have had alcohol and ‘other substances’ in her body, suggesting that she had overdosed.    

Gallanio (right) with one of her daughters (left). Gallanio recently lost a heated custody battle with her ex-husband, Qatari billionaire Sheikh Abdelaziz bin Khalifa Al Thani, 73

Gallanio (left) with two of her daughters. She and her ex-husband Sheikh Abdelaziz have three girls together, 17-year-old twins and a 15-year-old

The luxury Playas del Duque apartments in Puerto Banus, just outside of Marbella, Spain, where Gallanio lived and was found dead

The Puerto Banus marina packed with multi-million dollar yachts is a minute’s walk from Gallanio’s apartment

The harbor in Puerto Banus, just outside of Marbella, where Gallanio was known as ‘la Sheiquesa’

Reports have suggested that a number of opened blister packs of drugs were found in her home.

The post mortem was carried out by a single doctor at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Malaga, in a further indication that her death was not being treated as suspicious. Spanish autopsies in criminal investigations normally require two doctors.

Further microscopic tests on samples from her body are being conducted at the Toxicology Institute of Seville, after the initial post mortem failed to conclude how she died.

See also  Sasha Walpole says she almost fell off her sofa when teenage romp with prince became headline news

Gallanio (right) with one of her daughters. She lost custody of them after a French court heard that Gallanio was prone to nervous breakdowns

Gallanio’s Pomeranian, Honey, (left) was found guarding her body inside her apartment, MailOnline revealed 

Gallanio met Sheikh Abdelaziz when she was a 19-year-old student in Paris, and he was in exile after a failed coup in Qatar. He wooed her despite their 28-year age gap. 

After having three daughters together, the romance soured and the couple split in 2007, later divorcing in 2012.   

Gallanio maintained her royal lifestyle after the split, remaining a frequent face in high-flying social circles and documenting the glamor in an Instagram account with over 500,000 followers. She was known as ‘la Sheiquesa’ in Marbella.

But things had been going south for the American turned Qatari princess, who had claimed recently that she had been forced to sell some of her jewelry to make ends meet.

In an interview with Women’s World in April, she described her life as like living in a ‘golden cage’, saying how she wanted freedom from her ex-husband. 

She said: ‘Money is a curse because it isolates you from a lot of people. It’s a different world.’ 

Galiano and Abdelaziz split in 2007, later divorcing in 2012. She maintained her royal lifestyle after the split, remaining a frequent face in high-flying social circles

In an interview with Women’s World in April, she described her life as like living in a ‘golden cage’, saying how she wanted freedom from her ex-husband

She also claimed that Abdelaziz had stopped paying for child support in a March 19 Instagram post. 

‘The father of my children Prince Abdulaziz Khalifa Al Thani has not paid one cent for child support for a over a year now to help me support and raise our children,’ Gallanio wrote.

‘In my opinion this is outrageous, unfair, embarrassing and a real shame. No matter on what financial level or status you are …..it’s really immoral because again the kids are the casualty …. However it’s more humiliating when you are a billionaire prince of QATAR.’

The post was written alongside a photo of a story from the French newspaper Le Parisien, which reported allegations of sexual misconduct against Abdelaziz allegedly made by one of their daughters. 

The report claims that the daughter was touched inappropriately between the ages of nine and 15, and forced to sometimes share a bed with her father. Abdelaziz denies the allegation.

Gallanio had travelled to Paris in April for legal hearings to try and get custody of her daughters, but the French court ruled the girls should stay in France where their billionaire father lives after reportedly hearing that Gallanio was prone to nervous breakdowns and had visited detox clinics for alcohol use.   

The court heard allegations that the prince had sexually abused one of his daughters, and the Paris Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into the girl’s claims.

Celebrity hair stylist Ivan Romero, 24, said that Gallanio was ‘the sort of person who made you want to love her.’

Hair stylist Ivan Romero, 24, said Gallanio used to make weekly visits to the Lorena Morlote salon where he works under the Playas del Duque apartments. 

Other well-heeled clients of the salon include Paris Hilton, Victoria Beckham and actress and producer Salma Hayek.

Ivan told MailOnline: ‘Kasia was very friendly and a nice lady who was always very courteous. We are very surprised and shocked by her death.

‘She was always a discreet lady and would never speak of her private life, but she seemed happy and upbeat.

‘She came in once a week to have her hair tidied and brushed and once a month she would have her extensions done. She would also have other beauty treatments.

‘I miss her a lot. She was the sort of person who made you want to love her.

‘Her twins also used to come in when they were staying here, but we didn’t see much of them as they were in Paris. She was always happy when they were around.’