The Marquess of Ailesbury’s son ‘fervently hopes’ an inquest into the aristocrat’s death will reveal the truth as his 88-year-old widow said his family are accusing her of pushing him out of a window.
Relatives of the late Marquess – also known as Michael Brudenell-Bruce, who was suffering from dementia when he died at 98 – are contesting his will.
It was changed two years ago and gives Teresa Marshall de Paoli, 88 – a former fashion model who dated Frank Sinatra – a fifth of his estate.
Ms Marshall de Paoli, the partner of the Marquess of Ailesbury for 37 years, said members of his family kept their distance at the funeral after he was found bleeding from the head on the patio of her west London home.
Now, David Brudenell-Bruce, the 9th Marquess, has accused his father’s long-term partner of having ‘repeatedly passed herself off as a marchioness’.
He has reportedly complained to the Financial Ombudsman Service that she opened a bank account in the name of Marchioness of Ailesbury.
He told the Times: ‘She, just a girlfriend, managed to prevent me seeing my own father’s coffin.’
Discussing his father, who he had been estranged from for decades, he said there was no chance he had taken his own life.
He added: ‘Given the state of our relations I never expected to get anything from his will — he had, after all, [already] left me his 49 per cent share of the Savernake estate,’ he said.
‘Knowing I stood to benefit nothing from [the will], I never paid too much attention to when the final will was written, but certainly I feel people with dementia should not be making financial decisions.’
Previously, David told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The sadness is she and he were alone in the building and we will never know. There’ll be a coroner’s inquest and the only possible outcome is an open verdict.’
David, 71, the newly styled 9th Marquess, expressed suspicions over her involvement in his death and said he is contesting the will.
It was changed two years ago to make Ms Marshall de Paoli an executor with a share, though David’s son Tom – the new Earl of Cardigan – is the leading beneficiary.
David – who still lives on the estate, though the family seat was sold in 2008 for £11 million – believes that his father’s will should not have been altered while he had dementia.
Police spent two days investigating the Marquess’ death, which Ms Marshall de Paol claims happened after the he leant out of his first-floor bedroom window to let out their cat, Honeybun.
Ms Marshall de Paoli says she endured an ordeal when police and forensic officers confined her to her home during their investigations.
She says some family members have kept their distance since he died, and one has accused her of pushing him out of the window. She denies the claim.
She told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Three members of the family and I avoided each other at the wake.. David would come inside to get himself more prosecco but would not speak to me.’
Ms Marshall de Paoli is an executor of her late partner’s will. She did not have power of attorney.
Ms Marshall de Paoli says she was Lord Ailesbury’s carer until the end of his life: ‘I want to warn others that when a partner dies in the home, the remaining widow is treated like a suspect. I had no idea.
‘I am a very caring person and I didn’t want him to go to a home.
‘I simply did not push him out of the window. I thought he’d live to be 101 and I would die before him.’
Ms Marshall de Paoli lived with Lord Ailesbury for 14 years at her west London home, which she bought before they met. Previously, they lived on his family’s 4,500-acre Savernake estate in Wiltshire.
Ms Marshall de Paoli said: ‘David and his father had not spoken for 50 years, which is why he’s excluded.’
A Metropolitan Police spokesman previously said: ‘The death is unexpected but is not being treated as suspicious.’