PRINCESS Beatrice was just 17 when she started dating her tragic first love Paolo Liuzzo in 2005.

His death at 41 from a suspected overdose, in a Miami hotel in February, came as sources said he had struggled with drugs and racked up big gambling debts.

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Beatrice pictured with Paolo Liuzzo when she was a teenager

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Paolo’s shock death from a suspected overdose in a Miami hotel came as insiders said he’d struggled with drugsCredit: Rex
Beatrice, now 35, found out soon after her mum Sarah Ferguson’s shock skin cancer diagnosis.

Liuzzo had repeated run-ins with the law including over the death of a student and cocaine possession.

Officer Michael Vega, of the Miami Police Department, told The Sun police found Liuzzo after being called to a room at the citizenM Miami Worldcenter hotel at 3.22pm on February 7.

The time of death was given as 3.34pm. The cause has not been disclosed due to Florida records law.

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

The death certificate says Liuzzo had been working as an art industry consultant and never married.

He was listed as living at an apartment building near the hotel.

His body was flown back to his native Long Island, New York, for a funeral on February 16.

A pal of Liuzzo admitted: “Paolo was not doing great on a personal level. He loved to party and gamble. He began using a lot of pharmaceutical drugs 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.”

Heart-wrenching moment Princess Beatrice’s husband comforts her as they walk home after Queen’s funeral
The friend added: “He was always borrowing money to pay loans. It became a vicious cycle.”

Liuzzo and Beatrice — six years his junior — started dating in 2005 but kept it under wraps until he joined her family’s ski holiday to Switzerland in 2006.

Four years earlier Liuzzo had been charged with the fist-fight death of a student in Massachusetts.

The charge was downgraded to assault and battery, and he served 100 hours’ community service.

Regardless, Fergie backed her daughter’s fledgling romance, saying: “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.”

However, the publicity led to Liuzzo being hauled back to the US for flouting his probation conditions, since he was allowed to travel abroad only for work.

He had his three-year probation extended by six months, and Beatrice publicly ended the romance.

Paolo later said: “It was a stupid fist fight and if I had gone to trial, my lawyers were certain I’d have been found innocent.

“But if it came out that me and Bea were dating, it wouldn’t be good for her image or Sarah’s so everyone was trying to keep our relationship a secret.”

After the split he claimed Bea and Eugenie, then 15, had attended a party in Jamaica where guests smoked cannabis and took magic mushrooms.

And later he cruelly dismissed his relationship, with Bea, saying: “I wasn’t sure I wanted to get in that deep with Bea.

“I loved her but I wasn’t in love with her.”

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Princess Beatrice and husband Edoardo Mapelli MozziCredit: Getty

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Beatrice and Edoardo attend an exhibition in 2019Credit: Getty
He added: “Sometimes another lady friend of mine would come over to my place at Eaton Square in London. It was just messing around, never anything more, and I felt so bad after because of Bea.

“I’m not a bad person. But it’s like putting heroin in front of Pete Doherty. Women are my weakness.”

In September 2009 Liuzzo, then 27, was arrested on Australia’s Gold Coast after crashing his Audi hire car into traffic lights.

He had also failed to pay for accommodation and restaurant bills at a casino.

He pleaded guilty to motoring offences, fraud and cocaine possession and was fined £2,600.

No conviction was recorded but the magistrate blasted Liuzzo for his “cavalier” attitude to the court.

Public records show in recent years he had several brushes with Florida police over driving offences.

Liuzzo was understood to have inherited a fortune after his dad, Italian plastic resin tycoon Nico Liuzzo, died aged 62 in 2001.

After her split from Liuzzo, Beatrice began dating Virgin Galactic executive Dave Clark.

When he got a job at Uber, she enrolled on a finance course in San Francisco to be near him.

But they split by mutual agreement after ten years, in 2016.

Bea was pictured with fitness trainer James Williams, then CNBC host Wilfred Frost, but suggestions of romance were shot down.

How will Paolo’s death affect Beatrice?

By Matt Wilkinson

The Sun’s Royal Editor Matt Wilkinson breaks down Beatrice’s tumultuous romance with the American playboy.

The senior journalist also offers insight into how his death will affect the princess.

“Princess Beatrice is now a happy, contented career-driven mother of one who is married to a suave and dashing property developer, but the path of love has not always run smooth.

“The young princess’s first love was New Yorker, Paolo Liuzzo, who not only was seven years her senior, but acted less than gentlemanly after their split.

“A 17-year-old Beatrice, then fourth in line to the throne, met Paolo in Jamaica. The 24-year-old joined the York family on their traditional ski trip and whisked the teenage princess to Paris.

“But young love came crashing down within a year when it emerged Paolo was wanted back in the US to explain to a judge why he had breached parole terms by holidaying in the Alps.

“In fact, Paolo’s story was a drama the royal family could do without. He had been charged with manslaughter after a student died in a fistfight, but later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.

“After they split, he failed to cover himself in glory by speaking of Beatrice saying ‘I loved her, but I wasn’t in love with her’ and spoke of cheating on the young princess when they were dating.

“The nature of Paolo’s death will shock Beatrice, but she has proved that after a love life of many twists and turns, it’s possible to find love and happy life within the royal family.”

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Miami cops told The Sun that officers attended a room at the citizenM Miami Worldcenter hotel on February 7Credit: Alamy

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A room at the hotel where Paolo stayedCredit: Booking.com
In 2018 she was confirmed to be dating property tycoon Edo Mapelli Mozzi, a member of the Italian nobility.

The pandemic meant they had to cancel plans for a grand wedding at St James’s Palace, in May 2020.

Instead, in July that year, they held an intimate ceremony at All Saints Chapel, Windsor, witnessed by a few guests including the late Queen Elizabeth II.

The couple now have daughter Sienna, two, and split time between homes in London and Oxfordshire.

Liuzzo’s siblings Annalisa and Roberto did not respond to requests for comment on his death.

The Sun also asked the citizenM Miami Worldcenter hotel for comment but did not hear back.

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The Sun’s frontpage exclusively reported on the deadly fight back in 2006