A hard-up agency nurse who found herself being showered with millions of pounds worth of gifts by one of the world’s wealthiest women has had the fortune bequeathed her snatched away by the family her benefactor never met.
A little care and affection went a long way for dedicated nurse Hadassah Peri, who had no idea who she was caring for when reclusive Huguette Clark was first put in her charge. They had little in common beyond their Catholic upbringing. But they would soon spend 12 hours a day, seven days a week together, taking walks, playing cards – and watching The Smurfs. They became inseparable and now, more than 20 years later, the Filipino mum is probably the richest carer on the planet after her grateful patient handed her a huge slice of the massive fortune she barely touched.
Huguette, she eventually learned, was a reluctant heiress who shunned fame and a champagne lifestyle to spend the last decades of her life hidden away in a private New York hospital room. Most of her surviving relatives never met her. She even made her lawyer of 25 years speak to her through a closed door. But she always treasured her unlikely friendship with Hadassah.
During their time together she bought her seven homes and a Bentley Hadassah’s family were too afraid to drive. She even offered them a Cezanne painting and an antique violin – later selling them and giving the cash instead because they didn’t know what to do with them. By the time Huguette died in May 2011, just two weeks before her 105th birthday, she had given Hadassah more than £18 million over 20 years. She also left her another £8.75 million in her will – small change for Huguette, who inherited the equivalent of £600 million in 1925 and who claimed the money was “a menace to happiness”.
But her final legacy to Hadassah enraged her estranged relatives. They launched a successful legal battle to overturn her will and grab the cash for themselves.
Huguette checked into hospital with face cancer in March 1991 and refused to leave. She stayed in the same room for 7,300 nights and even sacked one private nurse who suggested she go home.
Her three New York apartments overlooking Central Park – 42 rooms decorated with paintings by Monet and Renoir – remained empty until her death. So did her mansion in Connecticut and huge beach house in Santa Barbara, California, which she never visited in the 60 years she owned them.
During her time in hospital she spoke to just one of her US relatives, second cousin Paul Clark Newell. They talked regularly for nine years but even he had to arrange to speak to her through her lawyer. He didn’t even know she was in hospital when their conversations mysteriously stopped in 2004. Paul says: “There was a lot of speculation about whether she was she was in her right mind.”
In the meantime Huguette had formed a close bond with 64-year-old private nurse Hadassah and even complained when she went home to her children. Bill Dedman, who has written a book about Huguette’s remarkable life, says: “When you say someone is a recluse people think of Howard Hughes – a crazy person with long finger nails, totally unkempt. But Huguette was a competent, kind woman who loved to wear cashmere sweaters.”
Huguette was born in Paris in 1906, the youngest child of Senator William Clark, who once rivalled John Rockefeller for the title of the richest man in the US. She was 18 when her father died, leaving her his fortune. At first she was a regular in the society pages, but after a brief marriage to law student William Gower ended in divorce she shut herself away. She was not photographed again for 80 years, never remarried and never had children. She spent her time collecting dolls, watching cartoons, painting and studying all things Japanese.
Dedman says: “No one knows what made her retreat from society. She seems to have been immobilised by her fear of strangers and being kidnapped.
“When the other nurses couldn’t get her to take her medication they would get Hadassah on the phone, or just pretend to.” says Bill. “As soon as they said, ‘Hadassah says you’re supposed to do this’, she would comply.” Soon Huguette began showering Hadassah and her family with gifts.
At first she paid medical bills and tuition fees. Then she bought the family a new home when the basement of the apartment block was flooded and bailed them out after an unexpected tax bill. Over time the gifts became more lavish. There were cheques for £45,000 in Christmas cards and a rare Stradivarius violin for Hadassah’s son David – even though he had given up his music lessons.
But the most extravagant gift was a painting by the celebrated French artist Cezanne. Hadassah said: “Madam wanted to give me a painting and I refuse it. I said. ‘Madam, what shall I do with the painting. I don’t know anything about painting’.” Instead Huguette sold it and gave her the proceeds – nearly £9million. The Bentley she gave the family was equally impractical, especially as she had already given them five other cars. Hadassah said: “We never enjoy this car. You are scared somebody is going to bang it or steal it.”
Huguette also bought the family a holiday home in New Jersey in 2002, where they could take refuge if there was another terrorist attack. Hadassah said: “Sometimes I would say, ‘You gave me a cheque already today’. But she would say: ‘You have a lot of expense, you can use it’. I accepted the cheques because we have a lot of bills. Madam is very generous. I don’t ask for it.” The mum of three, married to a taxi driver, added: “Madam cared deeply about my family and all the devotion that I give.”
The final straw for Huguette’s relatives came when she left Hadassa £8.75million in her will. They claimed Huguette was mad and had been manipulated. But after years of research, biographer Dedman is not convinced. He says: “She could be very generous, but wouldn’t just hand over money to strangers.”
None of the 19 relatives who challenged the will had ever met Huguette, yet they initially asked for 75% of her £230million estate. Last September Hadassah agreed to give up the cash she was left in the will and pay back £3million worth of gifts. She was allowed to keep the rest.
Dedman says: “Huguette thought her family were just out for her wealth. Of course, she was right. They never reached out to her while she was alive – they only reached out for her money after she died.”
