The ex-wife of a Qatari prince has been found dead inside her home in Spain. This is after she accused her former husband of inappropriately touching his own child.
Kasia Gallanio was a former princess of Qatar and 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. According to the French publication, Le Parisien her death is a suspected drug overdose.
Police went to the house after receiving a call from one of Gallanio’s daughters. She said her mother had not been returning calls, said a spokeswoman.
Police entered the house with the help of a janitor at the apartment complex. They found Gallanio in bed, with no signs of violence. This is 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. The couple had three daughters: Sheikha Malak, Sheika Yasim, and Sheikha Reem. In 2007, Gallanio created a company for luxury gift items named Savoir-Faire.com. The company voluntarily liquidated in 2010.
It has been reported that Gallanio had discovered fraudulent activity on her ex-husband’s account at Barclays Bank. This activity led to legal action. Barclays later settled the fraud claim with an undisclosed amount.
Gallanio and Al-Thani separated in 2012. Their separation led to a high-profile custody battle over their three children. At the time Gallanio accused Al-Thani of sexually abusing one of their daughters. Al-Thani of course denied the allegations.
The former princess 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.”
The 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