Rothschild scion dies; drugs feared

NEW YORK - A scion of the internationally known Rothschild family collapsed on a Manhattan sidewalk and died of a possible drug overdose following a downtown party, officials said.

Authorities said Raphael de Rothschild, 23, died April 22 outside a Chelsea loft. William Corbin, a friend of Rothschild, was later arrested and charged with heroin possession, police said.

Corbin has denied any involvement with the death.

Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the city medical examiner, said toxicology results were pending. But a police source told the Daily News, "We have little doubt he died of a drug overdose."

Like the Rockefellers in the United States, the Rothschilds played a major role in French business and culture. They helped make Paris one of the most significant financial capitals in Europe and are famed for their wineries in the Bordeaux region.

Raphael's father, Nathaniel de Rothschild, heads an $8 billion financial-services company.