Eva Rousing, the American wife of UK billionaire and acquaintances with Prince Charles, was found dead in her London mansion on July 10th at age 48.
Although her death is yet unexplained, it is speculated that she died from a drug overdose. Her husband, Hans Kristian Rausing, could not be questioned because he is currently in detox after being arrested for erratic driving from substance abuse on Monday.
The couple has been infamous for their struggle with addiction, despite many generous donations to addiction treatment centers. Four years ago, Eva was stopped by the U.S. Embassy who discovered heroin and crack cocaine in her bag. Though the search found more drugs in her car, and even her home, charges were dropped when issued a public apology promising to seek help.
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How could one of Britain’s–or the world’s–richest couples come to such a tragedy? Apparently, owning a big beautiful mansion and being part of an elite society does not make you invulnerable to one of the world’s most dangerous diseases–addiction.
Anyone can become addicted to drug. We often associate drug abuse with living off the streets, but drug addiction can touch everyone, whether you have just shillings or billions–and the Rausing family is worth an estimated $10 billion.
Research shows that drug abuse is not uncommon in the UK: new data released by the Medical News Today estimate that almost 1 in 30 people (1 million of the 19.23 million) employed in the UK have illegal drugs in their system at work.
Nobody is ever alone in addiction. This is a condition that affects millions of people around the world. Most importantly, addiction can be treated, and recovery is in the grasp of each and every one of these millions.