PAOLO Liuzzo was Princess Beatrice’s ‘first love’ and someone she cared about so deeply that she pushed to introduce him to the late Queen.

Sadly, the troubled playboy struggled with life after dating the princess in the early Noughties, before his suspected drugs overdose death this year aged just 41.

Paolo Liuzzo dated Princess Beatrice way back in 2005, and was the young royal’s ‘first love’

It was believed Paolo struggled with gambling addiction, and reportedly owed huge debts to loan sharksCredit: Rex

Having inherited a fortune from his late father, the plastic resin tycoon Nico Liuzzo, the young Italian gained a reputation for hard partying and even compared his womanising to Pete Doherty’s addiction to drugs.

After Paolo’s death in a Miami hotel in February, his body was flown back to his native New York for a funeral – and friends told The Sun it was not a complete surprise that he had died young.

A pal revealed: “Paolo was not doing great on a personal level. He loved to party and gamble.

“It was a very fast lifestyle and we all feared it would catch up with him eventually.”

Pals also claimed the socialite’s fast living and addiction to gambling landed him in deep debt despite his vast wealth, even owing debts to loan sharks.

Officials said that while the cause of death was unconfirmed, it was being “investigated as an overdose death”.

‘Shocking & embarrassing’ scandals

Paolo was reportedly single at the time of his death, but his most famous romance was with Princess Beatrice, who he called ‘Bea’.

After meeting in Jamaica in 2005, they started dating when she was 17 and he was in his early twenties.

I watched Meghan & Harry rip apart royal staff, nothing was ever right and there was always a huge inquest, blasts expert
Paolo then broke the news to Beatrice that three years earlier he had been charged with the manslaughter of a student who had died during a drunken brawl.

The charge was later downgraded to assault and battery, and he served a 100-hour community service sentence.

Despite Beatrice’s love for Paolo, the relationship caused a headache for the Royal Family – particularly her parents, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, who publicly tried to be supportive despite their reservations.

After they invited him on holiday to Switzerland in 2006, however, it emerged that Liuzzo had flouted the conditions of his probation.

Beatrice was forced to end the romance when he was sent back to the US to have his three-year probation extended by the courts as punishment.

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.”

After the split, he further fanned the flames by claiming the princess and her sister Eugenie, then 15, had attended a party in Jamaica where guests smoked cannabis and took magic mushrooms.

A source tells The Sun: “Andrew did not approve of him, but did not want to alienate his darling daughter.

“It was only too obvious that Bea was head over heels in love with the guy, who was definitely on the wrong side of the tracks.

“However, her mother Sarah could see the situation needed careful handling [so they] were openly welcoming to Paolo, even when they began to hear about him getting into trouble and doing the kind of things they wanted to shield Bea from.

“They were shocked when they heard he had been using a lot of cocaine and had been seen with other women, and were embarrassed when he later claimed he had smoked marijuana in their presence.”

‘Love… but not IN love’

Paolo continued to enrage the royals as he opened up on his past relationship, revealing he had cheated on the princess with other women.

He told the Mail in 2007 Beatrice was so besotted that she had insisted she would “love [him] to meet Granny”.

He said: “We’d started joking about getting married and having kids.

“I wasn’t sure I wanted to get in that deep with Bea. I loved her but I wasn’t in love with her.

“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 afterwards because of Bea.

He also added: “Bea wanted to fly to New York to visit my mother but, I’ll be honest, I’ve never brought a woman back to my house to meet my family unless it was someone I would be proposing to.”

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Beatrice was said to have been devastated by news of his deathCredit: Getty

‘Women are my weakness’

Despite his high-profile romance with Beatrice, the self-confessed lothario admitted he struggled being tied down.

He once said about himself: “I’m not a bad person. But it’s like putting heroin in front of Pete Doherty.

“Women are my weakness.”

Having inherited millions, Paolo was able to afford to live in luxury, once telling police his address was the prestigious Trump Tower in New York, where apartments sell for millions.

He made the admission in 2009 after being arrested in Australia, having crashed a £40,000 hired Audi while rumoured to be fleeing Jupiters Casino – where he apparently left without paying his bill.

He was charged with a string of offences, including possessing cocaine.

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

Sometimes another lady friend of mine would come over to my place. It was just messing around, never anything more, and I felt so bad afterwards because of Bea

Paolo

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.

In the final years of his life, he had further brushes with the law, including multiple driving offences.

Mum-of-one Beatrice, now 35, is believed to have found out about Paolo’s death shortly after her mother was diagnosed with skin cancer and was “heartbroken” by the news.

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Troubled Paolo struggled to stay on the right side of the law over the years, and had been in trouble with cops multiple times