COCAINE-DEATH BILLIONAIRE'S MISTRESS DIED OF OVERDOSE

THE former mistress of a billionaire Greek shipping magnate "devastated" by
his death from cocaine abuse was discovered dead from a drug overdose in
her west London flat, an inquest heard yesterday.

Baroness Michelle de Massy, a former fashion model who was once married to
the nephew of Prince Rainier of Monaco, was at the centre of an
international jet set in which the recreational use of drugs was commonplace.

She was the lover of Vitas Gerulaitis, the flamboyant tennis star who died
in 1994, aged 40, of carbon monoxide poisoning in a beach cottage at Long
Island, New York. He had admitted using cocaine while at the peak of his
career.

The engineer who installed the cottage's heating system was charged with
criminally negligent murder.

Baroness de Massy's dinner parties in her Kensington flat, which had Marc
Chagall paintings on the wall, were notorious with guests often being
presented with half a gram of cocaine for dessert.

But her circle's hedonistic lifestyle, which had led to her husband leaving
her in 1985, turned sour with the death of one of its chief proponents,
Constantine Niarchos, in 1999.

The heir to a Greek shipping fortune had taken enough cocaine to kill 25
people. Such had been his appetite for the drug that he had eaten it.

His death hit Baroness de Massy particularly hard. She had been his lover
and it was she who discovered his body in his Mayfair flat.

Friends said Baroness de Massy, who was born in Norway, never recovered
from the shock and her use of drugs and alcohol became much more serious.

Despite numerous attempts to clean up - she underwent treatment in 13
rehabilitation centres - her health deteriorated.

She suffered 11 seizures brought on by the drugs and her liver was badly
damaged. She eventually died from a cocktail of heroin and diazepam at her
Kensington home in November. She was 41.

The inquest in Westminster, central London, heard she was surrounded by the
paraphernalia of a serious drug abuser including syringes and wraps of heroin.

After the hearing, Nanzee Soin, her best friend, said: "Michelle was
beautiful and intelligent, but despite that she had very little self-esteem.

"She did not believe anybody would like her for herself so she chose to
disguise herself by taking drugs.

"When Constantine died that had a devastating effect on her. Love-wise, she
was not happy after he died. She was having an affair with him. He was
married at the time, but they were really happy together."

Another friend, Eva Harold, of Chelsea, said she regularly accompanied
Baroness de Massy to Royal Ascot, polo matches at the Guards Club and
Tramps and Raffles nightclubs.

A report presented to the hearing from Monaco, where she had been receiving
treatment at the Princess Grace Hospital shortly before her death, said she
had a heavy past of multi-addictions, including opiates, cocaine and alcohol.

Prof Colin Berry, a pathologist, told the inquest that she had taken heroin
combined with diazepam and her liver showed signs of sclerosis.

He said: "She would be a slow metaboliser of these drugs. It is probable
she died of mixed drug intoxication."

Her friend George Crump, who discovered her body, said he had found her
unconscious the day before after taking too many drugs. But she had
recovered and promised "not to take anything".

But when he returned the next day she was collapsed in her bedroom. He
called an ambulance, but paramedics could not resuscitate her.

Dr Paul Knapman, the coroner, recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.

He said: "It's a tragedy that her lifestyle finally caused her death at the
age of only 41."