A former Qatari princess has been found dead on Tuesday after being suspected of a drug overdose at her home in the Spanish town of Marbella.
Kasia Gallanio, 45, was denied custody of her three daughters and lived in Spain while battling alcoholism and depression, the French newspaper Le Parisien reported.
His lifeless body was discovered Sunday inside the property by police.
Gallanio, born in Los Angeles and of Polish descent, married Abdelaziz bin Khalifa al-Thani, 73, uncle of the Emir of Qatar in 2004, and the couple had three daughters together.
However, they fought in a bitter custody battle for more than a decade following allegations that he sexually assaulted his eldest son. He has always denied the allegations.
He had been living in one of the couple’s houses in Marbella, while the three children stayed with their father living in Paris.
An autopsy has yet to be performed.
Her ex-husband is a former government minister in Qatar, but has lived in France for many years. Apparently, he was forced into exile after an alleged failed coup against the Qatar leader in the 1990s.
He lives with his three daughters on the luxurious Avenue Montaigne in the Champs Elysées.
Louis Spagnuolo, a close friend of the former Princess of Marbella, told the Spanish expatriate newspaper Olive Press that Gallanio was “against drugs” and not an alcoholic.
“I knew her very, very well and I am devastated by the news,” she said. “She was a very good person and those who knew her loved her.
“She loved her daughters without believing and would never leave them. She was dead against drugs and was never an alcoholic.”