THREE months after the death of “Catwoman” Jocelyne Wildenstein comes a dramatic twist in her story.
Before she passed away, the 79-year-old had declared herself bankrupt and was being chased by creditors.
Jocelyne Wildenstein’s partner Lloyd Klein speaks exclusively to The Sun[/caption]
The last time Jocelyn was pictured before she died in December[/caption]
In later years, Jocelyne was unrecognisable from photos of her young self[/caption]
But Jocelyne, it seems, wasn’t quite as broke as everyone thought.
Wildenstein left her partner, Lloyd Klein, $100million in her will, he tells me.
On the day of Jocelyne’s funeral in January, Lloyd took a call telling him that he was the beneficiary of a life insurance policy Jocelyne had taken out.
“I got a phone call from Switzerland from the attorneys and they informed me I am the beneficiary of a life insurance policy,” he tells me.
“It’s over $100million dollars. My heart was beating. I was like, I’m not surprised. I sent her [Jocelyne] a big blessing.
“Jocelyne left me the most beautiful love gift ever that you can give and surprise your other half.
“She did it right, she’s a lady. Jocelyne was secretive, she was mysterious.”
How she managed to secure Lloyd’s $100million life insurance policy is certainly a mystery.
After he received the news, Lloyd’s lawyers advised him to employ bodyguards and an armed driver.
“My life has changed. I have one or two people walking behind me now,” he explains.
Lloyd, a fashion designer, has taken up residence in a luxury apartment in Paris.
The paperwork is done and dusted and he has access to the trust with his $100million, he says.
Instead of sorting out a mountain of debt and a pile of creditors’ letters, he is wondering, at his leisure, how to spend the $100million.
But there is more drama.
‘Missing £1.2bn’
In contrast to his $100million “gift”, Lloyd claims Jocelyne did not leave a single penny to her two children, Alec Jr and Diane, who are both in their forties.
Jocelyne had been estranged from her children for many years before she died and neither attended her funeral.
In 1999, Jocelyne received a reported $2.5billion settlement, plus $100million a year, following her divorce from art dealer Alec Wildenstein.
Lloyd claims the bitter estrangement from Alec Jr and Diane came about after they stopped making the payments.
Jocelyne’s son Alec Jr and brother-in-law Guy were found guilty of tax fraud[/caption]
Diane Wildenstein (centre), Jocelyne’s daughter, and Alec Jr were allegedly estranged from her mum[/caption]
The glam mum proudly holding daughter Diane[/caption]
“After the death of their father Alec [in 2008] it fell to the children to continue the payments but they did not do it,” he says.
He claims that before she died, Jocelyne was preparing to file a lawsuit against them for ten years of unpaid alimony for the extraordinary sum of $1.2billion.
“Jocelyne was done with the children in her last years,” he says. “She gave them everything.”
Fraudster family
In March last year, a court in France gave Alec Jr a two-year suspended sentence and fined him $40,800 for his part in a massive tax fraud that saw his uncle, Guy Wildenstein, jailed.
As well as being found guilty of fraud, Guy was found guilty of money laundering and sentenced to four years in prison, half of it suspended, the other half to be served under house arrest with an electronic bracelet.
But Lloyd says he is not concerned with Jocelyne’s children right now.
Has he been tempted to splash out?
“Well,” he says, “I did buy myself a birthday present.”
Lloyd was 58 on 15 February.
Our sexual life was very intense and very good, our love, our understanding, our cultural level was high
Lloyd, Jocelyne’s partner
“I bought myself a watch, a Rolex watch. It was, I don’t want to boast – $500,000,” he says.
Lloyd had it specially engraved with Jocelyne’s name and date of death – 31 December 2024.
“My birthday was a painful day. I wanted something very powerful next to me,” he says. “When I look at the time, I see Jocelyn.”
‘Always with me’
He says Jocelyne is “with him” all the time.
“Jocelyne is here, we communicate through the mind. There are signs,” he says.
“Her phone is still working and sometimes it will fall without reason from my night table. It helps to know she is here.
“We were together 22 years. Every night we slept in the same bed, we said goodnight and kissed and hugged.
“I have known grief, I have lost my parents, but I have known nothing like this.
“Silly things get me. I go to a supermarket and see something Jocelyne would have liked, and I get a knot in my stomach.
“I am living now in a beautiful apartment and everything has been set up as if she lives here.
Jocelyne’s first husband Alec Wildenstein died from cancer in 2008[/caption]
“Her clothes are in my dressing room. When I open the closet I see her coats, her furs.”
Lloyd has had a gold and glass pendant specially made in which some of Jocelyne’s ashes have been placed. He says he wears it all the time.
“I feel she is next to me,” Lloyd adds.
Sudden death
On New Year’s Eve, Jocelyne and Lloyd were taking a nap in the suite of the Paris hotel where they had been living before getting ready to go out.
Lloyd woke up to find her dead in the bed beside him.
“It was very peaceful,” he says. “She looked beautiful. Her hair was done. One of her dresses, a made-to-measure couture gown by Alaia, had been delivered.
“We were going to dinner at Laurent to celebrate the New Year. They waited for us till midnight.
“Those last three months in Paris, Jocelyne wanted to go out every night and enjoy herself.
Timeline of Jocelyne Wildenstein’s life
- 1945: Jocelyne Périsset is born on September 7 in Lausanne, Switzerland, into a middle-class family.
- 1960s: As a young woman, Jocelyne reportedly dates several high-profile men, including Swiss film producer Cyril Piguet and Italian-French filmmaker Sergio Gobbi.
- 1977: Jocelyne meets wealthy art dealer and businessman Alec Wildenstein in Kenya, where he owns a vast wildlife reserve. The two begin a relationship and eventually marry.
- 1978: Jocelyne and Alec Wildenstein tie the knot. The couple becomes known for their extravagant lifestyle, including private jets, luxury properties, and a shared love of wildlife conservation.
- 1980s–1990s: Jocelyne begins undergoing extensive cosmetic surgeries, reportedly to maintain her husband’s interest. Her transformation attracts media attention and eventually earns her the nickname “Catwoman,” though she denies undergoing surgeries to resemble a feline.
- 1997: Jocelyne catches Alec in bed with a younger woman, leading to a dramatic confrontation. The couple’s tumultuous divorce proceedings begin and become highly publicised due to their immense wealth and lavish lifestyle.
- 1999: Jocelyne’s divorce from Alec is finalised. She is awarded a reported $2.5 billion settlement, with an additional $100 million per year. However, the settlement includes a stipulation that she cannot use the money for further cosmetic surgery.
- 2000s: Jocelyne’s physical appearance continues to grab headlines and often overshadows her personal life. She largely retreats from the public eye but maintains a high-society lifestyle.
- 2008: Alec Wildenstein passes away from cancer.
- 2016: Jocelyne begins her relationship with fashion designer Lloyd Klein, who is 22 years her junior. The couple faces legal troubles and domestic disputes, which are widely covered in the media.
- 2020s: Jocelyne remains a figure of fascination, with her appearance and extravagant life continuing to spark debates about beauty standards, wealth, and celebrity culture.
- 2024: On December 31, Jocelyne peacefully passes away in her sleep
“This wasn’t like her. She often would not want to go out. It’s as if she knew she was going to go.”
‘Extreme’ life
Lloyd says Jocelyne arranged the legacy because of their love of one another.
“Our love was real, our relationship was real,” he adds.
“Our sexual life was very intense and very good, our love, our understanding, our cultural level was high.
“We had fights like every couple but we love each other.”
He says the $100million was a surprise – an understatement, perhaps – but that Jocelyne was always surprising him.
“One day for my birthday, I wanted a specific gift. It was a very expensive watch.
“We were having the cake and she brings onto the table, the gift.
“It’s a beyond gorgeous watch that I wanted, a Rolex, but it was maybe too much. It was on my plate.”
And now he has two.
Jocelyne and Lloyd continued to live a luxurious lifestyle filled with glitzy parties and events[/caption]
Swiss-born Jocelyne became famous for her repeated facial surgeries, although in her last interview, with me, she claimed never to have had plastic surgery.
As well as the plastic surgery extremes she went to, she was famous for the extremes in her finances.
“Jocelyne was extreme in everything she did,” says Lloyd. “There was so much more to her than ‘Catwoman’.
“She was a philanthropist, she supported animal welfare, art, culture, healthcare and education.
“She built up her Ol Jogi ranch in Kenya, with animal clinics and schools for African children. She didn’t talk about any of this.
“I want people to know how fabulous a woman she was.”
