Mrs. Astor Regrets (42 page)

Today marked the first time that all the antagonists would be in the same room since Brooke Astor's funeral. Oral arguments were scheduled before Supreme Court Judge Anthony Scarpino, Jr., over the question of choosing the temporary administrators for Brooke Astor's will. While Annette and Chase Bank had jointly proposed themselves, Philip had filed legal papers asking to be considered for the responsibility if Annette was not chosen. Tony's lawyer Ken Warner had instead suggested tapping the service of a neutral party, a retired seventy-five-year-old judge, Howard Levine, and a new bank, Fiduciary Trust.

A black large car pulled up in front of the courthouse, and Tony and Charlene stepped out. Philip hung back about 100 yards away; he was not ready to face them yet. Once the couple had headed into the building, Philip walked over to the car to greet his father's longtime driver, Luis Vasquez. They were joking and laughing together as Susan Robbins arrived.

For Robbins, this hearing marked her return to the Astor affair after nearly a year on the sidelines. She and Philip had developed a strong bond during the guardianship battle. "We connected straight up," Philip says, "and we've been in touch ever since." Her specialty was guardianship law, not trusts and estates. But facing a will battle, Philip hired an attorney whom he trusted—Robbins. She felt that this was her second chance to restore Mrs. Astor's wishes. "I feel a bit like I betrayed her, that I didn't fight hard enough for her," says Robbins. "So this would allow me to feel better."

In the sunny, wood-paneled, high-ceilinged eighteenth-floor courtroom, Annette de la Renta had already taken an unobtrusive seat in the fourth row on the left, flanked by her lawyer, Paul Saunders, and two associates. With her hair pulled severely back and wearing a black sheath dress with a flared hem, a black sweater, and stilettos, she looked as if she were attending a funeral. Charlene and Tony Marshall were at the front of the courtroom on the right side. Charlene, whose white hair was held back by a girlish headband, wore a black skirted suit and a white blouse and kept craning her neck to see who was coming in and then whispering to Tony.

At 9:30
A.M.,
Judge Scarpino, a middle-aged man with a mustache, wire-rim glasses, and a dry sense of humor, strode into the room. When the clerk called the Astor case, a phalanx of fifteen lawyers marched to the front, representing beneficiaries from the Metropolitan Museum and the New York Public Library to the Animal Medical Center. Like grownups caught in a polite game of musical chairs, the lawyers milled around, since there were not enough places to sit. Eager to make a good impression, Philip grabbed a chair from the back of the courtroom and carried it on his shoulders up front and then joined Annette as his father looked on impassively. "This is a nightmare of a case," the judge began, pausing for effect—everyone in the room nodded knowingly—and then he delivered the punch line: "for the court reporter."

Ken Warner, Tony's lawyer, led off with a forty-five-minute monologue in which he attempted to refight the guardianship lawsuit. He insisted that "Mrs. de la Renta and Chase bring enormous bias and hostility to the case." Annette closed her eyes, as if imagining she were somewhere else, letting the words roll over her. Warner complained that the bank was trying to hurt Tony by getting him into trouble with the IRS. Chase had filed 1099 forms with the federal authorities, claiming that Tony should pay additional taxes on the transfer of Cove End and the $5 million to Charlene, which he had claimed as gifts from his mother rather than taxable income.

The judge noted in a puzzled tone that Tony had agreed a year earlier to let Annette and Chase serve as Brooke's guardians, asking, "They were originally acceptable to your side at that time?" Warner testily replied, "We accepted them." The judge shot back, "Your clients have grown to be uncomfortable with them now?" The courtroom erupted into laughter. An annoyed Warner then raged over the allegations in the guardianship proceeding, insisting that in the past year "actions were taken, large and small, just to dig and to hurt Mr. Marshall."

Susan Robbins, who was next, was calm and measured in her brief seven-minute presentation. She avoided inflammatory language, insisting that Philip had pursued the guardianship "out of love and concern for his grandmother." She added that "Philip does not have hostility to his father. He understands that his role is to marshal the assets and distribute them, whichever will is chosen." She did not criticize Tony in her remarks.

But the next two lawyers, Leslie Fagen, representing Chase Bank, followed by Paul Saunders, attempted to eviscerate Tony verbally, accusing him of mismanaging his mother's financial affairs. Fagen began by calling Tony's lawyer's legal filings "vituperative" and full of "frantic accusations." He added that Annette had been called "every name under the sun."

Then Fagen claimed that after investigating Mrs. Astor's finances, Chase had discovered that $18 million of her money had been diverted to Tony Marshall in questionable transactions at a time when she was "ill and incapacitated." He went through a litany of alleged offenses, listing the items that Tony claimed had been gifts from his mother.

Next up was Paul Saunders, a confident man with a dry wit. He insisted that his client, Annette de la Renta, "is not doing this to get even with anybody ... She's doing this solely out of love and respect for Mrs. Astor." He went into the history of Brooke Astor's wills, pointing out that the codicils added in 2003 and 2004, which benefited Tony, represented an unusual change in her behavior. The attorney suggested that he had evidence to prove that Mrs. Astor had been coerced. "The nurses took detailed notes," Saunders warned. "We know who visited, what she said, what they asked her to do." He said of Annette, "She wants the truth to come out."

The judge asked to speak to Annette, and the wraithlike sixty-seven-year-old gave a tremulous smile as she approached the bench. Speaking so softly that she could scarcely be heard, she reiterated that she would willingly take on the administrator's role without payment. Philip was then asked to come forward for two minutes—Tony physically flinched as Philip walked to the front of the courtroom—and in answer to the judge's question, Philip said, "I would accept a fee." Judge Scarpino nodded and said he understood that choice, since administration would involve an enormous amount of work. Howard Levine, the retired judge requested by Tony, indicated that he too would expect a fee if chosen.

By now it was 1
P.M.,
and the attorneys had been speaking for nearly three hours. Lawyers from the Metropolitan Museum and the New York Public Library briefly stood to back Annette's bid to be the temporary administrator. Warner then rose to talk about how Mrs. Astor had been in amazing physical shape in her later years—"She was dancing around"—and said that her doctors had advised her "to cut down on the late-night dancing and parties." He insisted that Brooke Astor had liked her daughter-in-law, noting that in 1997, when Brooke fell in the ladies' room at the Museum of Natural History and broke her hip, "she called out for one person to come to her aid. She said, 'Please get Charlene.'" Annette rolled her eyes at the implication that this anecdote indicated affection. Warner added, "When she got the highest civilian award from President Clinton, they [Tony and Charlene] were the ones that Brooke took."

Like many assertions confidently made in court, the story surrounding Mrs. Astor's 1998 Medal of Freedom was more complicated than it was made to appear. When Robert Pirie heard about Warner's courtroom comments, he chortled at the notion that the trip to Washington, D.C., had been a manifestation of Brooke's love. He had flown with Brooke to the ceremony, along with David and Laurance Rockefeller, on the Rockefeller family's plane. Tony and Charlene had been demoted to a separate aircraft, along with Brooke's French maid. "Brooke specifi cally didn't want them on the same plane," Pirie said. "The passenger manifest was not an accident. During the ceremony, Brooke hissed at me, 'Look at Charlene—isn't that disgusting? She's putting herself in every picture.'"

Tony's devotion to his mother was a constant theme in Warner's presentation to Judge Scarpino. "I think that Philip Marshall visited about twice a year," the lawyer said. "I heard that Mrs. de la Renta came twice a month, but there was one visitor who came all the time and that was Anthony Marshall. He was always there for her." The judge listened patiently, but his body language suggested that he was counting the minutes until Warner finished. Warner closed by urging the judge to appoint Howard Levine and Fiduciary Trust as temporary administrators, saying, "We ask you not to put in place declared adversaries."

After listening to hours of acrimonious exchanges, Judge Scarpino nonetheless urged all sides to settle. "There's very little doubt in my mind what the intentions of Mrs. Astor were. She loved her charities. She loved her family. She loved her son," the judge said. "I wouldn't say she would be happy to see what's going on now." The judge made it clear that he did not want to be in the middle of this mess. "It's our hope that you folks will be able to make a decision, and not require me to make a decision." Ending the session, he asked the lawyers to meet with the clerk to schedule settlement conferences.

Leaving the courtroom, Tony and Charlene walked over to a hallway window, where they stood by themselves. It had been two months since I had spoken to Tony by phone. I drifted over and said, "This must be surreal for you." "Torturous," replied Charlene. When I said that I was sorry they had not had more private time to mourn before the legal wrangling began, Charlene replied, "So are we." Tony seemed subdued and sad but controlled; she was angry and protective, her emotions flickering across her face. "The truth and our love, truth and love, that's how we're getting through this," Charlene said. She reached over and touched Tony affectionately on the cheek, then said, "We're going to take care of each other." He smiled a weary smile and said, "I'm eighty-three years old," as if in disbelief over his predicament. Excusing himself to go find a place to sit down, he suddenly thrust out his hand, a surprisingly courtly gesture, and I shook it.

In this small corridor on the eighteenth floor, there was only one long wooden bench. Annette huddled on the right side with Philip beside her. Tony and Charlene walked over and perched on the far left side. Father and son, so near and so far. In the past four hours, they had choreographed their movements to avert eye contact. Newspaper photographers were waiting outside the building, but this was the money shot—these two members of this feuding family trying desperately to avoid each other.

Driving down the Bronx River Parkway afterward in his silver Subaru with Robbins and me, Philip used speed as his catharsis, darting in and out of traffic like a New York cabbie, eager to distance himself from the emotionally fraught morning. At an outdoor table at the Village Cafe in Bronxville, Philip and his lawyer talked about all the might-have-beens, about how this family fight could have been avoided. If only Tony had hired a geriatric social worker to look after his mother's care and supervise the nurses and helpers. If only he had not fired Brooke's favorite staffers. And, the biggest if of all, if only he and Charlene had been content with the millions guaranteed under earlier wills. Philip sounded worried about his father's health. "I didn't think he looked well," he said. "I feel sorry for him." There was wistfulness in his voice as he added, "I just wish I could talk to him without Charlene around."

Five days later, while the judge was mulling over his decision on choosing the administrators, the publicity battle erupted again, via a strategic leak of documents to the
New York Times.
"Astor's Mental State Questioned Before She Signed Final Will" was the headline of the story written by Serge Kovaleski. A year earlier, the lawyers in the guardianship case had been astounded when they discovered the letter that Tony had written to Dr. Howard Fillit describing Brooke Astor's diminished mental capacity. Now the public could read this devastating document as well.

Even the most oblivious newspaper reader could not help reaching the obvious conclusion: Tony and Terry Christensen were aware that Brooke Astor suffered from Alzheimer's disease when they allowed her to revise her will. Tony's lawyer, Ken Warner, was reduced to telling the
Times
that he had a "mountain of evidence" to prove that Mrs. Astor was competent for many years after that diagnostic letter was written. Trying desperately to put a positive spin on this news, Warner played the dutiful-son card, saying, "The real significance of this letter is to show that Mr. Marshall was unquestionably a wonderful, loving son who focused enormous attention on his mother's well-being."

Brooke Astor's funeral in August had been boycotted by many of her friends because Tony had organized the service. But on the evening of September 11, she was honored by her two favorite New York institutions in back-to-back events, providing her confidants with an opportunity to pay homage. At 4
P.M.
the Metropolitan Museum held its semiannual board meeting, followed by a reception to celebrate its beloved trustee. Tony Marshall sent word that he would miss the meeting but would attend the cocktail party at Astor Court, the tucked-away sanctuary on the museum's second floor. The trustees kept looking around for him, but he did not appear. Finally Philippe de Montebello went ahead with the tributes and the toasts.

At 5
P.M.,
the New York Public Library held an invitation-only memorial service to honor Brooke Astor. Annette raced down Fifth Avenue from the Metropolitan Museum event to the library, arriving with Oscar in tow. Nearly four hundred people appeared at the grand Cecile Bartos Forum to hear speakers, including Vartan Gregorian, Charlie Rose, Liz Smith, and Robert Silvers, tell their favorite stories about the beloved philanthropist. The writer Toni Morrison and the actress Marian Seldes read selections of Brooke Astor's poetry and prose. For those who had missed or skipped the funeral, this was a personal goodbye. Vartan Gregorian embraced Philip Marshall in a bear hug.