The Astor Estate: Let’s Get Ready to RumbleEvery new beginning, as they say, comes from some other beginning’s end, and from Brooke Astor’s death yesterday comes a new beginning that’s just getting warmed up: the fight over her fortune, estimated at $130 million. Astor’s son, Anthony Marshall, who last year was accused by his son of neglecting her and subsequently agreed to return $11 million, claims he shared her final moments, and according to his wife, even “cradled her in his arms.” But the Daily News quotes a source who says he wasn’t even there. And the Post jumps on the bandwagon, too, finding sources who say that a handwriting expert found a forged signature on a recent codicil to her will. They also claim the Manhattan District Attorney’s office is considering tax-fraud charges against Marshall. In other words, it’s just as we all suspected: The only parties set to benefit more than her heirs are the tabloids.
today in astor-ia
Brooke Astor’s Kid Gets Ready to RuuuumbleDid you think the Astor family saga was finally effectively over? Us too. In fact, we were thinking about retiring that Today in Astor-ia tag and launching into a full-on obsession with the Aokis. But not so fast, it turns out.
Earlier this month, Brooke Astor’s son and heir Anthony Marshall, along with his wife Charlene, reluctantly agreed to give up running Brooke’s affairs and return about $1.3 million in disputed money. That seemed to be the end of them, for a while. But now they’re back, distributing morbid hints that they’ll be around for good, and soon. “There will be a battle royal when Brooke Astor dies,” Charlene informs the new Vanity Fair. The whistle-blowing grandson, Philip, notes dryly that now that Brooke is out of Marshalls’ care, her death is not quite as imminent as it was. Still, the Loathsome Couple appears content to lie in wait, expecting to receive everything they gave up (and more) when the will is read.
Of course, speaking of the will, a big juicy part of the scandal is an investigation into whether someone had altered it and/or forged Brooke Astor’s signature on one of its provisions. In short, it ain’t over till it’s over — and not even then.
Astor Kin Ready to Rumble [NYDN]