The ex-wife of a Qatari prince has been found dead inside her home in Spain after she accused her former husband of inappropriately touching his own child.
Kasia Gallanio, a former princess of Qatar, was the third wife of billionaire Abdelaziz bin Khalifa Al Thani, 73, the uncle of the current Emir of Qatar.
The 45-year-old’s body was discovered in her Marbella bed on Sunday morning after a suspected drug overdose, according to the French publication, Le Parisien.
Police went to the house after receiving a call from one of Gallanio’s daughters in France, who said her mother had not been returning calls, the spokeswoman said.
Police entered the house with the help of a janitor at the apartment complex and found Gallanio in bed, with no signs of violence, according to the spokeswoman who spoke on condition of anonymity, in line with her department’s rules.
In 2004, Al-Thani and Gallanio got married and had three daughters, Sheikha Malak, Sheika Yasim, and Sheikha Reem. In 2007, she created a company for luxury gift items named Savoir-Faire.com. The company voluntarily liquidated in 2010.
Gallanio had reportedly discovered fraudulent activity on her ex-husband’s account at Barclays Bank that lead to legal action. Barclays later settled the fraud claim with an undisclosed amount.
Gallanio and Al-Thani separated in 2012 and had a high-profile custody battle over their three children. Gallanio accused Al-Thani of sexually abusing of one of their daughters. Al-Thani denied the allegations.
Gallanio resided in Marbella, Spain while Al-Thani resided in Paris with their children.
More details of this story from AWM:
In an interview with Women’s World, Gallanio explained her side of things after being married to a Qatari prince.
“Two of my daughters are twins. They wanted to live with me, so he cut contact with them as a punishment. It’s very sad because children need both parents. The little one is not allowed to talk to me, which makes me extremely sad because she gets a lot of material things from her father, so it’s almost like manipulation and blackmail. It’s like a part of my body is missing.”
After her death, a friend spoke to Olive Press, describing the former Qatari princess as a “good person” who was “against drugs” and was most certainly not an alcoholic.
“I knew her very, very well and am devastated at the news,” Louis Spagnuolo told the publication for Ex-Pats in Spain. “She was a very good person, and those who knew her loved her. She loved her daughters beyond belief and would never leave them. She was dead against drugs and was never an alcoholic.”
French newspaper Le Parisien reported that Kasia Gallio died at the age of 45 after a suspected drug overdose. The paper also reported that on May 19, a Paris court dismissed Gallanio’s custody demands.
Source: AWM