Posted on 07/27/2006 7:42:36 AM PDT by wjersey
Millionaire socialite Brooke Astor, whose well-being is at the center of a legal battle between her son and grandson, has been moved to a hospital, where her condition is improving, her doctor said.
Dr. Sandra Gelbard, a specialist in internal medicine and critical care at Manhattan's Lenox Hill Hospital, told the Daily News in Thursday's editions that Astor's "condition has improved, and we are hopeful that she is going to go home in the very near future."
Gelbard said the hospital would issue a formal statement on Thursday.
In court papers filed last week, Astor's grandson, Philip Marshall, accused his father of ignoring the 104-year-old woman's health "while enriching himself with millions of dollars."
The papers -- reported on Wednesday by the Daily News -- seek the removal of 82-year-old Anthony Marshall as his mother's legal guardian and to have him replaced with Annette de la Renta, the wife of Oscar de la Renta, and J.P. Morgan Chase bank.
Astor ran the Astor Foundation after the death of her third husband, Vincent Astor, in 1959. He was the great-great-grandson of patriarch John Jacob Astor, who made a fortune in fur trading and real estate and was the wealthiest man in America by 1840.
Brooke Astor gave millions to the New York Public Library, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall and the Museum of Natural History. But she also funded smaller projects such as new windows for a nursing home and was noted for personally visiting the places she helped out.
Astor has faded from sight in recent years amid declining health, including two broken hips. Once confined to her apartment, court papers say she was denied many of the staples of her high-society life.
Her son allegedly replaced her costly face creams with petroleum jelly. A French chef was fired, leaving her at the mercy of an "unmotivated cook" serving pureed peas, liver, carrots and oatmeal, according to the court papers, which were sealed by a judge on Wednesday.
Drudge had some articles posted about her today. Sad story. I guess her son just can't wait to inherit her money. Sick.
Poor thing, I hope they do not let her go "home" to her POS son. Her grandson did the right thing.
I wonder if she is related to the Astor family which went down on the Titanic. Born in 1902 she would have been a contemporary.
She is a millionaire who has been extremely generous to others. Who does her son think he is to downgrade his mother's style of living? Why shouldn't she have what she is used to in her remaining years? It isn't sonny boy's money yet.
There is also more to the neglect charges than what you have mocked.
More neglect? You mean like this http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1672559/posts ???
Perspective is a wonderful tool.
>I guess her son just can't wait to inherit her money.
He's been living hand-to-mouth these past 82 years, you see.
< /sarcasm>
Yes, everything is relative. So tell me again why a millionaire shouldn't have all that she has been used to in life just because her greedy son decides to pinch HER pennies?
Hi Borges, read your thread too. Thanks for posting the URL :)
82 yrs old could be a problem for someone to be an efficient guardian. Imo, this woman is being neglected, if the allegations are true. So what if she wants a French chef and expensive face creams? She's Brooke Astor and has lived to see 104 years on this earth. She should have heat/AC, a decent environment, and her blasted yap dogs on her lap. She deserves that, nice nightgowns, and whatever food is appropriate for her.
Don't know the grandson's true motivations. I have no reason to doubt Annette De La Renta's suitability as a personal guardian, or JP Morgan Chase, for the fiduciary responsibility for caring for Ms. Astor.
Hope everything turns out well for her...
Brooke Astor's father was at one time commandant of the Marine Corps. Vincent Astor was her third husband, and the son of the Colonel Astor who went down on the Titanic. After Vincent's death in 1959, Brooke devoted her time to supervising the trust that distributed the bulk of the Astor fortune to charity.
Prayers for Mrs. Astor. Hope she gets that business straightened out.
She married Vincent Astor who was the son of JJ Astor who went down on the Titanic. Vincent had a younger brother who was in utero on the Titanic. I believe (not sure) that Vincent (obviously a young boy) was not on the ship.
So Brooke never met her (third) father-in-law because he was lost at sea decades before she married into the Astor family.
In the paper they said her motto was "Money is like horse manure and should be spread around".
What a tragic story. If true, the son sounds like a sadist.
She was married to Vincent Astor, son of John Jacob Astor the IV....who went down with the Titanic.
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