Princess died a junkie

Press, 13 November 1981, Page 6

Princess died a junkie

NZPA London A princess born into a very wealthy family became a drug addict and died in a London hospital, an inquest at Westminister heard yesterday. Princess Marie Inez de Bourbon-Palma, a first cousin of King Juan Carlos of Spain, came from a long line of aristocrats whose family ruled France for nearly 1000 years. She collapsed and died at the age of 29 from a heavy overdose of heroin. The princess had once

managed to give up drugs after treatment, but finally gave in to her fatal addiction, the inquest was told. She had been engaged to a Lloyd’s underwriter and Old Etonian, Philip Harvey, but broke it off. She mixed with pop stars and socialites where hard drugs were easily available. Her latest kick was “snorting” heroin through the nose and she usually carried the drug on her, the inquest heard. Jean Stewart-MacPherson, a close friend and a trustee of the Bourbon estate, said

she knew the Princess had used drugs. “She gave it up about five years ago, but went back to it. I spoke to her a few days before she collapsed. She did not seem at all depressed.” The princess had a three-year-old daughter, Melody, by a married American. The little girl has been living in France with her parents and the princess had been commuting between Paris and America. The Coroner (Dr Paul Knapman) recorded a verdict of death by drug addiction.