Claude and Paloma are the offspring of Picasso's illicit nine-year liaison with painter Françoise Gilot, who left Picasso in 1953 reportedly declaring, "I am tired of living with an historical monument." Then she converted her memories and sentiments into a book, Life with Picasso. The famed painter, by then married to new wife Jacqueline Roque, was so incensed that he ceased all amities with his former mistress and his two children by her as well. Picasso ordered them turned away from his door when they tried to visit, and they were banned from his funeral in 1973.
Although Claude and Paloma were permitted the use of their father's name, their frequent suits to establish themselves as his natural children—and his heirs—were rebuffed for five years both by their father and the French courts. Claude supported himself by free-lance photography and occasional cab driving, while sister Paloma, who has since launched a film career, earned some small international notice as a jewelry designer.
Now, thanks to the liberalization of French law, the children will get one-eighth shares each of the estate, which had heretofore been split between Picasso's widow and his legitimate son Paulo, 53. Together, Claude and Paloma will receive about $20 million—and still another cruel reminder of their parentage. While acknowledging their inheritance rights, the court maintained that Claude and Paloma were "adulterous children," and hence entitled to only half as much of the estate as a legitimate heir.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
