Trial hub reveals uncomfortable conflict between Baroness de Rothschild, her daughter-in-law and granddaughters

Nadine met the work hard in a Peugeot factory before launching into modeling and, in the middle of the century, launching into the world of cinema with small roles. Her figure and her beauty, but also a docile and submissive character of which she has always been proud, earned her several marriage proposals from very rich people. But it wasn’t enough. On the other hand, Baron Edmond de Rothschild was, although he was going through a divorce at the time of their meeting.

Then the whirlwind and luxury began, living among the 14 properties that Edmond owned around the world, following him and saying yes to everything, as Nadine, who was 27 at the time, remembers. “I never said ‘I can’t’ or ‘I don’t know'”, he admitted a few years ago in an interview with the magazine “L’Illustré”. Their marriage was celebrated without pomp, after they became parents of their first child, Benjamin. It was in the living room of his house and with the mayor as celebrant. Something that today’s mega-rich do not understand and, on the contrary, praise Venice as Jeff Bezos did in his “yes” with Lauren Sánchez.

Iconic heritage

When the wealthy banker died in 1997, his son Benjamin inherited the Edmond de Rothschild group, a conglomerate specializing in asset management and private equity. Inheritance wasn’t a problem, Nadine resigned to live in emblematic properties like the Château de Pregny, located in Switzerland and near Lake Geneva. An estate that Adolphe Carl de Rothschild bought in 1857 to get rid of what he owned and build an ostentatious castle designed by the Englishman Joseph Paxton.

At the end of the century, it was a meeting place for the most chic of international society and, precisely for this reason, the Empress came there frequently. the most desired and the most mysterious, Sissi. “It is a remote and charming world in which there is everything from Javanese porcupines to colorful birds that decorate the park in which Lebanese cedars are planted,” said the empress of the property, where she had lunch. the day before his assassination close to Lake Geneva itself.

After the death of Adolphe, the castle passed to his cousin Maurice who, upon his death, bequeathed it as property to the canton of Geneva, specifying in his will that the usufruct belonged to his son Edmond. Of course, only the castle and not all the riches it contains, which are inherited in the traditional way.

After Edmond’s death in 1997, Benjamin married in 1999 Ariane and Nadine moved to live in a pavilion which was on the estate, away from the main castle. The family relationship is over deteriorate. His son even said in an interview that he thought they viewed him more as an heir than a relative. It didn’t help that Ariane was literally the opposite of the Baroness. Daughter of a rich businessman, she studied in the best centers. She was neither docile nor submissive, she was a powerful woman who had nothing to keep quiet about and who was not afraid of evolving in a man’s world.

Mother-son conflict

After a while, Nadine left the castle grounds to move to a country house that he bought and which he proudly says is furnished by Ikea. The confrontation between mother and son intensified until, ten years ago, the former actress took a large part of her assets (around 171 million euros, no more, no less) and took them out of the Edmond Rothschild group and placed them in that of its main competitor, Pictet. This is perhaps why, after Benjamin’s death at the age of 57 from a heart problem, the family union ended up breaking up. Actually, Nadine didn’t even attend her own son’s funeral.claiming they had warned her two hours before.

That’s when the problem that is now before the courts began. Nadine decided after the death of her son that the works of art which decorated the rooms of Château Pregny should be exhibited to the public, but not just any public: “I wish to create a large Rothschild museum in Geneva, in our name, using the objects and works of art that I inherited. was not allowed to enter.

Traversal of requests

That’s when the legal battle began. Nadine took Ariane to court and the Geneva Court declared the request inadmissible because it considered that she should act against one’s own granddaughters. The widow of Edmond Rothschild created a foundation in her name and that of her late husband to collect the works of art that belonged to him by will and exhibit them in a museum in Geneva. Ariana, who after Benjamin’s death became CEO of the Edmond de Rothschild group, felt that this negatively affected the conglomerate and therefore decided to also file a complaint. But the judges agreed with Nadine.

The baroness therefore continued the lawsuit against Benjamin’s daughters, believing that it was her responsibility to dispose of the works that her husband left her and which remain at the castle. The family’s lawyer, Didier Bottge, declared in ‘Paris Match’: “By opening a legal front against her own granddaughters, Nadine is destroying the spirit of unity and continuity which has characterized the family for three centuries and seven generations.” But the Court ruled in favor of the granddaughters, stating that Nadine can’t access these hidden treasures.

Then came the final round. They met privately twice last summer and this summer. The young women, now adults, seemed to find common ground with their grandmother and the conversations – protected by confidentiality agreements-They came closer to something in common. Until Nadine decides to recount these meetings in detail in an interview in which she assures that she will transform her old house on the Pregny property into a museum dedicated to Sissi. And if she couldn’t do it in life, she was ready to give the precious coins to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

Badly advised?

In ‘Paris Match’, it is suggested that the problem perhaps does not come from Nadine but his advisors, Frédéric Binggeli and Nicolas Didisheimthe two people who are part of the foundation he created and who have advised him throughout his journey. Indeed, the first was also responsible for the movement of assets between the family group and Pictet, causing a gap that was difficult for the family to bridge. “Even though we think he has a strong character and is in good health, he presents the vulnerabilities of old ageand the position of his advisors seems excessive,” says a source close to the French media. As the widow is 93 years old, the matter that seemed as simple as a contested inheritance could end up being something much more serious.