Kasia Gallanio, Ex-Wife of Qatari Prince, Found Dead Amid Custody Battle

Kasia Gallanio, 45, the ex-wife of the Prince of Qatar Abdelaziz bin Khalifa Al-Thani, 73, was found dead in her home. Gallanio was Al-Thani’s third wife and had been engaged in a legal battle with him for 15 years over the custody of their children. Gallanio had left her husband over allegations that Al-Thani sexually abused their eldest daughter and fought for custody of their children for 15 years.

French newspaper Le Parisien first reported that Kasia Gallanio died at the age of 45 after a suspected drug overdose on Sunday, May 29. The report stated that the body did not show any signs of physical violence. It was also reported that a Paris court had dismissed her custody demands on May 19 and alleged that the custody case had been postponed pending a psychological evaluation for Gallanio after she was hospitalisation with a ‘breakdown’.

Kasia Gallanio was born in Los Angeles to Polish parents. She met Abdelaziz bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the uncle of the Emir of Qatar after he moved to Paris in 1992 after being cast out of the royal family for allegedly attempting to overthrow the Emir. Before being cast out, Al-Thani served as oil minister and minister of finance between 1972 and 1992. Al-Thani and Gallanio got married in 2004 and had three daughters.

Al-Thani denied all allegations and has custody over their daughters at his home in Paris. Meanwhile, Gallanio lived in Costa del Sol beach home in Marbella, Spain.

Reportedly, the police had gone to her home after she did not respond to her children’s telephone calls for four days after which they learnt of her death. An investigation has now been opened into the circumstances around her death, including the possible link to Gallanio’s custody battle with Al-Thani.

According to reports, Gallanio suffered from depression and was struggling with alcoholism. Louis Spagnuolo, a friend of Gallanio in Marbella spoke to the Spanish newspaper Olive Press and said, “She loved her daughters beyond belief and would never leave them." He also said that she was "She was dead against drugs and was never an alcoholic”.

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