When legendary Swiss socialite and tycoon Jocelyn Wildenstein was laid to rest this week in the most prestigious last resting place in Paris, it was an elegant affair befitting her society status.
But while dozens of her nearest and dearest gathered at the famed Père Lachaise Cemetery there were two conspicuous absences: the former billionaire’s only children were both missing from the congregation.
The pair, Alec Jnr and Diane, both in their forties, had decided to stay away following an ugly feud which, MailOnline has learned, has been fermenting for more than a decade.
Throughout the intimate ceremony, moving personal tributes were repeatedly paid to Wildenstein who was cited as benefactor of the arts – but there was no mention of her status as a mother, nor mention of her daughter Diane or son Alec Jr.
Being cremated without either of her children – who she had with her art dealer ex-husband Alec Wildenstein – nor her three grandchildren in attendance left a bleak note to the otherwise warm recollections of the larger-than-life heiress.
Afterwards Jocelyn’s partner of 22 years Lloyd Klein explained their absence: ‘Everyone is wondering why they were not at the funeral…They were fully welcome. I sent them the details and I said I trust you will give the last respect to your mother. But there was no reply.’
Mr Klein, who says he has not spoken to either Diane or Alec Jnr directly since their mother died, told MailOnline: ‘I never heard in my entire life, even if there is some grief between the parents and the children, even if there was a divorce, of children not attending their mother’s funeral’
And, speaking at the city’s fashionable Hôtel Plaza Athénée, the former fashion designer added controversially: ‘It’s all about money, of course…At the end of the day, that’s all it is ever about.’
Swiss socialite and tycoon Jocelyn Wildenstein (pictured in 2015) was laid to rest this week in the most prestigious last resting place in Paris
Jocelyn had two children with her ex-husband Alec Wildenstein, called Diane and Alec Jr
The ‘small and private’ ceremony was held at Père Lachaise Cemetery, the largest cemetery in Paris
Can You Feel the Love Tonight – famed by the Lion King – was played while the congregation surrounded her coffin and laid down pink roses
While the music played out Lloyd Klein poignantly placed a kiss on top of the wooden coffin
The rift between the socialite and her now grown-up children first began following her very public divorce with their father Alec Sr, a billionaire art dealer, in 1998.
She had been introduced to Alec by Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, at one time said to be the world’s richest man, and they bonded over big game hunting before eloping to marry in Las Vegas in 1978.
But their marriage unravelled when she caught him in bed with a much younger Russian model and he responded by pulling a gun on her.
The colourful divorce which followed – he claimed she had been a high class prostitute before they met, she claimed she was spending $1 a month on outgoings – made headlines around the world in the nineties.
The court case – and Jocelyn’s astonishingly contorted features following plastic surgery – made the Wildensteins household names around the world.
It ended with Jocelyn receiving a $2billion divorce settlement – as well as initially an annual sum of $100million annually from the Wildenstein dynasty – known for their horse breeding and art dealing.
It was during the high stakes divorce proceedings, Mr Klein claims, that Alec Jr’s grandfather, Daniel Wildenstein, pressured the then 17-year-old to cut ties with his mother – or he faced losing his inheritance.
The boy refused to comply literally but the episode did put a distance between him and his mother and the pair never fully reconnected, according to her life partner.
Alec Jr to this day continues to run his mother’s beloved ranch, the Ol Jogi Wildlife Conserve, in Kenya.
The fall out with Diane happened a few years later, after her father Alec Sr died in 2008, it’s understood.
Jocelyn had two children called Diane and Alec Jr
Jocelyn Wildenstein’s fiancé Lloyd Klein cut a solemn figure as he arrived for her funeral in Paris
In the years following, the regular payments Jocelyn had been receiving stopped which Mr Klein said, which made for awkwardness between her and Diane.
In a further blow to the mother-daughter-relationship, Jocelyn allegedly discovered that Diane had been friendly with the model her father cheated on her mother with.
The last time the mother met with her grown up daughter is said to have been around 2010 and 2011. Since then they had been estranged.
And while Jocelyn met her eldest grandson, now in his twenties, she did not meet her daughter’s second child or son’s child before she died on New Year’s Eve in the French capital.
The separation from her estranged children at points left Joceyln ‘so upset and disappointed’, but towards the end of her life, she had managed to emotionally detach herself from the situation, her partner said.
‘Jocelyn was no longer interested in seeing them,’ Lloyd explained. ‘She found them disgraceful, disrespectful and when we were talking about it, she said she did not want to see them.’
‘It is terrible. What monsters those kids are,’ he added. ‘How can you be that mean with the mother who gave your life she is her blood and flesh? She carried her for nine months and took care.’
Following Joceyln’s death, it had initially been planned – through Diane’s lawyer – that the children would take her ashes to Kenya, to spread them next to her parents.
But now Lloyd will keep hold of the ashes in Paris, either deciding to bury them near the graves of Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison, at the famed cemetery or keeping them close to him.
A bouquet of flowers is brought into the Crematorium ahead of a service for the socialite
While Jocelyn spent the final years of her life floating between Paris, New York and Miami, Diane is understood to have been living in London, following in her late father’s footsteps in breeding horses.
The career path of their son, Alec Jr, is more aligned with Jocelyn’s passions for hunting and wildlife, continuing to run the family lodge in Kenya.
In 2016 he became embroiled in a tax evasion court case alongside his uncle Guy Wildenstein. Both were accused of hiding the Wildenstein family fortune in an offshore tax shelter.
Alec Jr was handed a two-year suspended prison sentence and fined €37,500.
Meanwhile his uncle was found guilty in March 2024 and handed a four year prison sentence, of which two were suspended and he was allowed to serve the other two at home.
Jocelyn’s remaining assets have all been left to Mr Klein, he says, including her life insurance which the fashion designer said is worth ‘over $100 million’.
‘She did not die broke,’ he insists, contrary to reports that she was due in court in Miami for unpaid debts and previously declared bankruptcy.
‘She had a trust; she had a settlement and she had assets and she was not broke.’
The socialite (pictured in 1998) was nicknamed Catwoman because she reportedly had many facial cosmetic procedures in the hopes of resembling a cat
Paying tribute to his partner of more than two decades, Mr Klein said: ‘She was a very kind woman, a very loving person without an ounce of hatred.
‘She was all love and of course her features, which made her look like a feline, would make you think that she was going to bite you but she was the opposite.
‘She was extremely well educated and had a large spectrum of interests. She was a pilot – commercial and private which was exceptional, and she was a very strong woman.
‘She had to fight against all these men in the Wildenstein clan and she was alone against them but she won because she is a strong woman – so that is how I would want her to be remembered.’
Joceyln, throughout her life was often referred to as ‘catwoman’ as it was said she had several cosmetic procedures to make herself look like a lion or wild cat in Africa.
Yet today Mr Klein rubbished those claims and said her renowned feline features were natural.
‘She never wanted to look like a cat,’ he said. ‘She always had those feline features.
‘She did have cat eyes and cheekbones and like every woman, when she wanted to have some work to make her look younger, she had a lifting, some little changes and she did whatever she wanted to do.
‘It’s her face and when she looked in the mirror, she was very happy. The stories about her wanting to look like a cat are rubbish – it is all fake.
‘Why would she want to look like a cat? She loved wild animals; she had a cheetah as a pet that would lie on the sofa because she loved the wild world. But she never wanted to look like a cat.’
Joceyln died suddenly from a pulmonary embolism on New Year’s Eve in the French capital at age 79.
The ‘small and private’ ceremony was held at Père Lachaise Cemetery, the largest cemetery in Paris and most visited in the world which overlooks the city of lights.
The service for Wildenstein, who described herself as an ‘art dealer’, is where several famous figures in the art world are laid to rest, including authors Oscar Wilde and Gertrude Stein as well as American Doors singer Jim Morrison.
The graveyard covers around 110 acres in the centre of the French capital and is also where the likes of Edith Piaf, Sarah Berhardt, Molière, Frederic Chopin and Colette rest.
Around 35 people gathered for the service.
As mourners walked in, old videos of the socialite in glamorous outfits were played on the television screens with the Out of Africa theme tune playing, in homage to the time Joceyln spent in Kenya.
The poignant ceremony ended with her partner since 2003 laying his hands on her coffin and kissing it as Can You Feel the Love Tonight – famed from the Lion King – played out.
He was then comforted by other mourners who lay pink roses down on top.
Several personal readings were made by friends and family, including her make-up artist Alexis Stone.
He said: ‘The world was and will forever be fascinated by her life and past but Jocelyne was so looking forward to the future.’
MailOnline has attempted to contact Diane and Alec Jnr.
