Inside the lives of ‘Catwoman’ Jocelyn Wildenstein’s ‘estranged’ children, from private daughter Diane to son Alec Jr’s tax evasion prison sentence – after her death aged 84

Swiss socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein died suddenly on New Year’s Eve at the age of 84.

Jocelyn, nicknamed Catwoman because she reportedly had many cosmetic facial treatments in the hopes of looking like a cat, died in Paris of a pulmonary embolism while taking a nap.

She came from humble origins but became one of the richest people in the world after her divorce from French-born American billionaire Alec Wildenstein, whom she married in the 1970s.

The couple had two children named Diane and Alec Jr, both of whom lead relatively private lives.

Alec Jr. However, has made headlines in recent years after he was found guilty of tax evasion in March 2024 and given a two-year suspended prison sentence.

In November 2023, Jocelyn shared an undated throwback photo of both Diane and Alec Jr. held as toddlers.

“My daughter Diane and my son Alec Jr. my personal family photos ,” she captioned the photo — which showed Jocelyn before her dramatic transformation.

Jocelyn developed an interest in hunting and wildlife, which led her to the Wildenstein family farm Ol Jogi, located in Kenya. There she was introduced to ex-husband Alec Sr on safari by Adnan Khashoggi, a Saudi arms dealer.

In adulthood, the couple’s son Alec Jr. managed Ol Jogi, and Jocelyn shared an inheritance from him in September 2023.

“The Wildenstein Dynasty,” she wrote. “My son Alec Jr #oljogi.”

Alec Jr. came under fire in 2016 when he was involved in a tax evasion lawsuit with his uncle Guy Wildenstein.

Both were accused of hiding the Wildenstein family fortune in a tax shelter abroad.

An art dealer, Alec Sr’s brother Guy, was also acquitted after trials in 2017 and 2018 as judges ruled that since his father, Daniel, and his older brother had died, he was not legally required to declare his foreign assets.

But in 2014, the Supreme Court canceled these exemptions, and Guy faced a new trial. His brother Alec Sr’s son, Alec Jr, was a co-defendant in the case, along with his widow, Liouba Stoupakova. Guy was found guilty in March 2024 and given a four-year prison sentence, two of which were conditional and the other two he was allowed to serve at home.

Meanwhile, Alec Jr. a suspended sentence of two years and a fine of €37,500.

Guy’s son David spoke to Tatler in 2016 and revealed that he and Alec Jr. had a very close bond, as they were born just six months apart and grew up together.

“We’re like brothers,” David said. ‘The bond in the family is between him and me. We’ve done a lot of things together, we’ve had a lot of problems together [as kids]. We are very similar in the way we think.”

David added that Alec “loves nature” and “really enjoys flying, he’s a great pilot.”

Meanwhile, Jocelyn and Alec Sr.’s daughter Diane leads an even more private life.

Diane lives in London and breeds horses, in line with another Wildenstein family business, The times reported.

But unlike Alec Jr. and his cousin, Diane was the eldest of the children on both sides and did not have a close relationship with her female cousins ​​because of the age difference, David said.

Jocelyn previously revealed that both Diane and Alec Jr. were estranged from her.

Of her encounter with ex-husband Alec Sr., Jocelyn recalled how he decided to kill a lion that had been killing nearby antelope, so she accompanied him on a pre-dawn mission.

She told how, after her future husband shot the lion with one shot – plus a second for good measure – they ate part of the animal as a sort of trophy and rubbed the blood on their necks.

“You have to eat some of the heart of your game,” she said. ‘It’s a legend. Perhaps to take over the lion’s power.’

Alec previously commented on Jocelyn’s dramatic transformation. He told Vanity Fair: ‘She was crazy. I would always be the last to find out. She thought she could fix her face like a piece of furniture. That’s not how the skin works. But she wouldn’t listen.’

Jocelyn denied that he “hired a publicist and paid a plastic surgeon to confirm that I had completely changed my face” to win the divorce, she stated.

In the wake of years of excessive spending and seemingly endless cosmetic procedures, Alec filed for divorce in 1999, although Jocelyn has said that she was the one who first decided to end the marriage due to her husband’s infidelity.

Jocelyn became one of the richest people in the world after her divorce settlement, leaving her with more than $2 billion plus millions more annually.

But somehow she managed to lose it all after years of tinkering with her face and spending on countless luxury items.

The star, born Jocelyn Périsset, was taking a nap in a Parisian palace at the time of her death on Tuesday, Paris Match reported..

“Her partner Lloyd Klein is saddened to announce the death of Jocelyne Wildenstein in Paris,” was shared by AFP.

She was last seen healthy on December 18 in Paris, when she was with Klein.

The star smiled at onlookers as she wore a fur coat, leggings and boots, black sunglasses and wore her blonde hair in soft waves over her shoulders.

She was nicknamed Catwoman because of her pronounced cat eyes and lion-like facial features. She had more than a million Instagram followers and described herself as an “art dealer.”