In the midst of an unpleasant custody fight with her ex-husband, who she claims of assaulting one of their children, a former princess of Qatar was found dead in her Marbella home at the age of 45.
Kasia Gallanio was the third wife of Abdelaziz bin Khalifa Al Thani, the current Emir of Qatar’s uncle, billionaire Abdelaziz bin Khalifa Al Thani, 73.
She claims that the former Qatari oil and finance minister, who was the eldest son of previous Emir Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, sexually molested one of their three daughters, despite his denials.
Gallanio, who led a lavish lifestyle partying with celebrities and attended Sofia Vergara’s extravagant wedding to Joe Manganiello in 2015, was found on Sunday morning in Spain after a suspected drug overdose.
The former couple share two 17-year-old twins who initially lived with Al Thani before they decided to move in with their mother in Marbella.
But she said he then decided to ‘cut them off as punishment’.
They have another daughter, who is aged 15 and still lives with the Qatari royal in a luxury apartment in Paris, where he was exiled following a coup led by his half-brother Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani in 1995.
Gallanio said in a recent interview with Women’s World: ‘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.’
The former royal couple had been engaged in a bitter legal battle for 15 years over the custody of their children.
He accused her of being an alcoholic with mental health issues, while Al Thani was accused of abusing one of the couple’s daughters.
Gallanio, of Polish origin, grew up in Los Angeles and met Abdelaziz when she was 19 years old and they married in 2004.
During a recent court hearing in Paris, it was alleged that one of her daughters had been abused by her father.
Gallanio said last month: ‘We had some bad news last week which I was absolutely devastated about.
‘It was alleged in court that her father had touched her inappropriately, which is going to go into an investigation.’
The ex-wife has been increasingly speaking out against the royal in her bid to gain full custody of all her children.
She told her 500,000 Instagram followers recently: ‘I have been struggling with posting this on my IG but after getting so many messages of support and how so many parents are in the same situation, I decided to share my story.
‘First a man should never disrespect the mother of his children and vice versa.
‘No matter how mad, upset or jealous or spiteful the father of my kids is, I am doing whatever I can to provide, protect, love, raise, feed and educate the girls like no one else will. I’m not perfect but I try my best.
‘Children should NEVER be used as victims or pawns when the parents can’t get along.
‘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.
‘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.’
A post mortem will be held to establish the cause of Gallanio’s death.
