“Trouble,” the pooch who inherited US$12 million from hotel mogul Leona Helmsley, has died, heading to the hunting grounds in the sky and leaving a trail of money and legal disputes behind.
The pampered Maltese bitch with a curly off-white coat died Dec. 13, spokeswoman Eileen Sullivan said,
but news of the dog’s demise only emerged Thursday.
She was 12 in human years, or 84 in doggie years, just shy of the 87 years at which her eccentric mistress and benefactor Helmsley died in 2007.
“She was cremated, and her remains are being privately retained,” Sullivan said. The remaining funds held in trust for “Trouble” have gone to The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.
When Helmsley died she left her adored companion US$12 million, but a New York judge agreed she had been mentally incompetent and knocked down that fortune to a mere US$2 million, while boosting the inheritance left to Helmsley’s human family and to charity.
“Trouble,” known for snapping nastily at just about anyone except Helmsley, retired to Florida, living and finally dying in luxury at the Helmsley Sandcastle hotel in Sarasota.
According to the New York Daily News, which broke the story, “Trouble” chewed through US$100,000 a year, with US$8,000 for grooming, US$1,200 for food and the rest for security against dozens of kidnapping and death threats.
At Helmsley’s death, outraged relatives went to court to complain that the matriarch’s will was barking mad.
In the original will, the dog got more than the humans. A judge agreed to cut “Trouble’s” part of the will to millionaire-style scraps and gave US$6 million to the grandchildren who had been left out.
In other news, British pop singer Lily Allen got married Saturday in a quiet ceremony in the English countryside, which became a double celebration when her new husband Sam Cooper revealed that she was pregnant again.
The 26-year-old Grammy-nominated artist was escorted into the church in Cranham, southwest England, by her actor father Keith Allen, while a crowd of well-wishers cheered her outside.
In his wedding speech, Cooper — her partner since 2009 — announced that they were having a baby, according to media reports.
The news came seven months after Allen suffered her second miscarriage
Also celebrating are rocker Jack White and his model wife Karen Elson.
The couple said they plan a celebration in Nashville, Tennessee, in honor of their pending divorce, which they announced on Friday.
An invitation posted online said the get-together will mark White and Elson’s “6th anniversary and their upcoming divorce with a positive swing bang hum dinger.”
“The party will include dancing, photos, memories and drinks with alcohol in them. This is only for close personal friends and family so please no plus ones or dead beats,” the invitation said.
White and Elson, who were married in June 2005, have two children together, Scarlett and Henry Lee.
They did not say whey they were splitting up.
The White Stripes broke up earlier this year, but Jack White continues to play in band The Raconteurs.
A less amicable breakup occurred earlier in the week, when the botched launch of a perfume in memory of pop icon Michael Jackson caused a stink, as his father distanced himself from a Frenchman behind the deal, and a lawsuit disputed their rights.
Joe Jackson signed a contract with French fragrance entrepreneur Franck Rouas earlier this year to launch eau de parfums “Jackson’s Tribute” for men and “Jackson’s Legend” for women.
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