Community. They were disciples of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the spiritual master of the Hare Krishna movement, and they had been unofficially married in a ceremony in India in the 70s. I said, 'Doris, get out of that house. Until Doris Duke's death, this would be her principal residence. ", "I'm crazy about Bernard," says Oatsie Charles. She said, 'There was nothing to do on that train.' . 'Doris Duke really was the last Chinese empress, the last of a type that doesn't exist anymore. And he would tell me, 'Miss Heffner's complaining.' I really don't know what the hell was going on, frankly. All; Titles; TV Episodes; Celebs; Companies; Keywords; She wasn't sure if she wanted to have a baby, but she said by the third month an incredible mother instinct took over. Call your pilot tonight and leave immediately and go to Los Angeles and get checked up.' Nine months earlier, she had sued her adoptive mother for breach of contract, claiming that she had promised to maintain her in the Duke lifestyle for the rest of Heffner's life and to make her the principal heir of her estate. And I didn't sense any antagonism between Chandi and Bernard." (The hospital said that Bernard Lafferty was a patient from July 1 to July 14, 1987.). On Thursday, October 28, 1993, Duke died at Falcon's Lair. And then eventually somebody else dropped back. After giving the matter prolonged and serious consideration, I am convinced that I should not have adopted Chandi Heffner. Her lawyer, David Keyko, said yesterday that in. "One hears all sorts of stories about how Rubi started in life, that he was Trujillo's sort of 'Press the doorbell, you answer the doorbell, and he went bang-bang.' Heffner told me, "Doris used to call James 'Teach.' Meanwhile, Heffner is holed up on her Hawaiian ranch. Chandi Duke Heffner, Self: Oh My God. Heffner spent almost six months on and off in two Honolulu hospitals, because she also developed a heart problem. Denise Hale recalls meeting Eduardo Tirella on the set of The Sandpiper, which was directed by her then husband, Vincente Minnelli, and having several dinners at Falcon's Lair. "Her legs were almost starting to atrophy from lack of exercise." . Franco Rossellini assured everyone that he was all for it. Her second husband, Dominican playboy Porfirio Rubirosa, fared only slightly better: His divorce settlement was estimated at $1 million. Heffner pleaded on his behalf and asked to speak to Duke, but Robinson told her that Duke was tired. Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. You can live in the manner that I live and have this lifestyle. ", "I was not involved. Chandi Duke Heffner is known for Oh My God (2009). ", In late 1990, he said, "I detected a growing unhappiness on Doris's part. I think she did it to make James jealous. I think this was the steroid thing happening. . "And later on, for a while, on Irwin Bloom, the financial manager. We came out from opposite sides of the stage, and I got to the middle and she wasn't there. "He was obviously unhappy. She said, 'I'm very frightened. "She looked great," Warnecke says. She was contemplating having knee replacements. "When we were together," Heffner continued, "when things were really great, Doris was in wonderful shape. She told me that her parents did not approve of her lifestyle, and that they'd cut her off from everything. Movies. Much to the surprise of almost everyone who knew Duke, she named her butler of six years, Bernard Lafferty, as executor of her estate and placed him in control of the newly created Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, which is to receive almost her entire fortune. ", Though she still would occasionally joke, "I haven't had any greens lately," which Nancy Cooke de Herrera says was Duke's code for sex, she seemed to be settling down. . He also said that she had lent $600,000 for his company, Health Maintenance Programs, Inc., in 1989; the loan is to be converted into stock, according to the will. Chandi got a couple of the housemen, and they brought him to the Somerville hospital." Doris Duke was murdered. This is a short video of an imaginary conversation between tobacco heiress Doris Duke and her adopted daughter Chandi Heffner, whom she met in a dance class . Duke. A Hare Krishna, sort of, Chandi went to Hawaii in the late 1980s and inveigled herself into the life of another billionaire, Doris Duke, the richest woman in the world. All. He has an alcohol problem, but he's a basically good person. Duke believed that Heffner was the reincarnation of her daughter, Arden. Demopoulos said that Duke had mentioned her suspicions that she was being poisoned. But I have no real medical knowledge of what transpired in California during the spring and summer of last year.". And then the wine was $1,000 a bottle; it came from her father's cellars. Heffner said that she had asked for them almost as a joke, and that Duke was laughing when the agent for the ownerrumored to be Adnan Khashoggi or a Kuwaiti sheikhcalled back and agreed. "But she thought everybody was after her money. . LOS ANGELES (AP) _ An ex-Marine sued the adopted daughter of late tobacco heiress Doris Duke for $33 million in palimony, claiming he gave up three years of his life to encourage her friendship with Duke. He was later retried and acquitted. He used to take her to Gold's Gym." But by the following summer she was noticeably declining again. "Io sono molto contento. "Bernard got out of the hospital. Of course, they had a very attractive life. It wasn't until the following winter, however, Burns told me, that he became romantically involved with Heffner. Doris and I used to go fairly regularly to see the president in the hospital; she would give him reiki treatments.". Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. I suspected that it was Bernard doing thiskeeping the food cold. . A dedicated philanthropist, Chandi Heffner is the founder and President of CDHIFI a charitable foundation that sponsors medical, veterinary and humanitarian assistance to rural regions around the . I called the California home and the other sites many times. . "There were clear indications of a growing trust, affection, and devotion between them. After she returned to Newport later that month, Banks invited her to a concert, but she forgot the date. They maintained a familial relationship until 1990 when Doris Duke disinherited Heffner. She really considered herself a dancer. Instead, she was cremated during the weekend following her death, and her ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean off Shangri La on November 17, 1993, by Bernard Lafferty and Johnny Gomez, along with the hibiscus leis she loved. And Doris said, 'How about the one next to you?' A. once a week wherever we were. He received nothing. Sometimes he acted as the butler, others as a general assistant. They hired him on Ferencz Soltesz's recommendation. Let them kill each other over it.' "O.K., I'm not going to see her, but. . ", "What struck me about Chandi was her hairit came all the way down below her waist," says Phyllis Saretta of her first meeting with Chandi Heffner. I thought she was really nice, genuine.". Chandi Heffner established her organization on a small scale by undertaking humanitarian work in the field. So I fixed another tray and brought it upstairs. She did not directly accuse Lafferty of turning Duke against her. (Von Blow is referring to a 1982 dinner party Duke gave at '21' in New York for his friends shortly after he had been convicted of attempting to murder his wife, Sunny. "I don't think you're supposed to use alcohol with steroids, and she was drinking sherry in the evenings." Id love to be a fly on the wall when David and Victoria Beckham meet their sons fiancees family. Doris loved animals. In a peculiar arrangement, in 1988, the 76-year-old Duke legally adopted the 35-year-old Heffner and bought her a $1 million ranch in Hawaii, where the two lived together as mother and daughter. In 1966, a few days after Duke suddenly shut down the record company she had started for Castro, he broke her jaw, according to Mansfield, and she fled to Newport with Eduardo Tirella, a handsome young set designer. One night at dinner, Heffner told me, "Doris said to me, 'You're my daughter reincarnated. Charlene Gail Heffner goes by the name Chandi Duke Heffner. Then [Franco and I] didn't see Doris anymore. Kids get annoyed with their parents.". . Duke is portrayed by her adopted daughter as a lonely, paranoid recluse in need of constant care. Heffner Duke, adopted in 1988 when she was 38 and the heiress was in her 70s, could not be reached for comment. He felt deeply grateful to Doris, as I did.". Peggy Lee told me that she had spoken to Duke on the phone several times in her last months, and that Duke had made a donation to an AIDS charity that Lee is involved with. On rare occasions I got Bernard. Heffner, who lives on the Big Island of Hawaii on a ranch that Duke previously purchased for her, said in court papers that after their February 1991 breakup she learned that Duke had made changes in her will, and "the estate has not been left to Chandi as Doris had agreed." "She used to come and see me and just cry," says singer Peggy Lee, who was friendly with Tirellaand who would later employ Bernard Lafferty as a butler. In May, a New York judge approved a plan to send the bulk of her estate to charity. Another time, at a college in upstate New York, Bobby [Farrah] didn't have her dancehe had her completely veiled, and she sat on the stage and played finger cymbals. You're Arden. '" And he called from a pay phone, and I felt so sorry for this guy, I said, 'Come to Somerville.' Up to that point, Heffner alleges, the two women shared an extremely close relationship, enjoying not only the opulence of Duke's estates, but also trips to Russia, "fountain of youth" treatments in Romania, finding suitable maids for the ornery billionaire after she'd been "blacklisted" by employment agencies, shopping for a $25 million Boeing 737, and a shared belief that Heffner was the reincarnation of Duke's only child, a daughter who died shortly after birth in 1940. He said the couple, who lived together from 1990 until 1993, agreed that Burns would be not only be her confidante-companion but ``cook, body guard, security specialist and assist in financing any claims Heffner Duke may find it necessary to bring to enforce her rights against Doris Duke.. But on Nicolas mothers side, things get more interesting. . If anyone has news on Chandi from the far reaches of Hawaii, drop us a line at showbiz411@gmail.com. "He was marvelous," says Claus von Blow, who later became Duke's neighbor in Newport. A few hours later, when Heffner returned from a show-jumping lesson, she was informed that Doris had flown to Los Angeles. Earlier this year, Manhattan Surrogate Court Judge Eve Preminger removed Lafferty from that position for allegedly squandering the estates assets on lavish living but Lafferty is appealing the ruling. We had a nice dinner with appropriate toasts, and Franco entertained us with anecdotes and imitations. Column: 15 minutes of fame flies by. In 1987, Heffner handled the negotiations for Duke's most talked-about acquisition: two Bactrian camels, which were thrown in as a sweetener on the deal to purchase a 19-passenger Boeing 737-300 for $25 million. Why doesn't she help you?' She got right up like a trouper and fell right down again. The next day Duke's lawyer called Heffner again and informed her that Duke wanted her out, too. Duke turned up at the Ritz in Paris that October walking with a cane. She wasn't about being a pretty, rich American girl. Chandi said, 'But where do I find a man?' They named them Princess and Baby. Heffner takes credit for everything from improving the dairy herd at Duke Farms to arranging the sale of Duke's gold deposits in Switzerland. No wills! "She got baby doses for a few weeks and that was it. I said, 'Sure, have him call me.' "He seemed depressed, and Doris thought it would give him more self-esteem. "Cromwell was quite nice," says Nelson Seabra, a rich Brazilian friend of Duke's. She had this terrible fear of fire." She was like a flower child, even though the era was over. Chandi Heffner In 1984, Doris met a woman named Chandi Heffner in Hawaii. ". Chandi Duke Heffner was recognized for her outstanding support of the Marshall Legacy Institute's, landmine detection program. This went on almost every meal. On New Year's Day 1964, she ordered him out, and he retaliated by suing her, claiming that they had been secretly married. They all of a sudden just totally cut me off, and I can't believe that was Doris. When Doris was only 14, she successfully sued her mother to stop her from selling Duke Farms, the estate her father had created out of New Jersey flatlands, including a 30-room mansion with an indoor pool and indoor tennis courts, artificial lakes, and man-made hillocks. He rushed to complete what was then the most expensive house on Fifth Avenue in time for her birth at home, on November 22, 1912. The only times I saw Doris really relaxed were these few times in Beverly Hills.". . ") They had done the whole kitchen togetherthe carpentry, everything. It happened on a train to California. We'll travel together. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. I never heard from Doris again and I could never reach her again. The reason it didn't last long was she didn't want them. "It was strange. Phyllis Saretta told me that Duke performed with the Farrah company four or five times, wearing a long black wig. . Bernard Lafferty, a cook named Colin Shanley, and her longtime Tongan maid, Nuku Makasiale, were at her bedside. Duke last made news in 1988, when she posted the $5.3 million bail for her close friend Imelda Marcos, the former Philippines First Lady. ", Another of Duke's intimates said that the real reason her closest friends were in favor of the adoption was that "Doris had contemplated suicide, and we thought we could have some peace of mind that she wouldn't kill herself as long as Chandi was around. Guest introduced Duke to Leon Amar, a 30-year-old Moroccan decorator. Chandi Duke Heffner net worth is $300,000. Years ago, she was talking about the things we all talk about nowthe environment, battered women and children, animal rights. She was so distressed about losing the baby. Then the U.S. government blindsided it, Column: Uber and Lyfts deactivation policy is dehumanizing and unfair. Mahn soon left, and in 1987 co-authored Daddy's Duchess: The Unauthorized Biography of Doris Duke. She never married again, and from then on the men in her life, whether they were lovers or not, were considerably younger and came from the creative world. . Believing that Heffner was the reincarnation of her daughter, Arden, Duke bought her a million-dollar ranch in Hawaii, and . ", Heffner wryly noted that Bernard Lafferty, accompanied by a bodyguard and chauffeur, had sat through her depositions wearing a five-carat-diamond earring, a diamond bracelet, and a diamond watch. One time we were performing at an Arab party at this catering hall in Brooklyn called the Venetian Manor, and Doris and I were partners. On an employment application Lafferty filled out for the Pavillion Agency in New York in September 1986, he said he had worked at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia from 1972 to 1983 and at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City from 1983 to 1985. In 1985, she met Chandi Heffner, a 32-year-old Hari Krishna devotee. . In a settlement signed Thursday by Manhattan Surrogate Court Judge Renee Roth, Chandi Duke Heffner, 42, dropped claims to the $1.2-billion estate and dropped a breach-of-contract suit contending that Duke reneged on a promise to support her for life, said Heffners lawyer, David Keyko. During this period, Duke also plunged into three large-scale public projects. Doris Duke dumped Chandi Heffner because Heffner wanted to marry one of their bodyguards. "Rubi" was also presented with a string of polo ponies and a house in Paris. Doris loved it. This Grand Marnier was so old the labels had been written by hand. And when she left, that adverse thing ceased. Chandi Duke Heffner, the 39-year-old former belly dancer and Hare Krishna devotee who was legally adopted by American Tobacco Co. heiress Doris Duke in 1988, now claims the reclusive 80-year-old billionaire reneged on her promise to make Heffner the sole beneficiary of her estate. That was Doris. 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Community. They were disciples of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the spiritual master of the Hare Krishna movement, and they had been unofficially married in a ceremony in India in the 70s. I said, 'Doris, get out of that house. Until Doris Duke's death, this would be her principal residence. ", "I'm crazy about Bernard," says Oatsie Charles. She said, 'There was nothing to do on that train.' . 'Doris Duke really was the last Chinese empress, the last of a type that doesn't exist anymore. And he would tell me, 'Miss Heffner's complaining.' I really don't know what the hell was going on, frankly. All; Titles; TV Episodes; Celebs; Companies; Keywords; She wasn't sure if she wanted to have a baby, but she said by the third month an incredible mother instinct took over. Call your pilot tonight and leave immediately and go to Los Angeles and get checked up.' Nine months earlier, she had sued her adoptive mother for breach of contract, claiming that she had promised to maintain her in the Duke lifestyle for the rest of Heffner's life and to make her the principal heir of her estate. And I didn't sense any antagonism between Chandi and Bernard." (The hospital said that Bernard Lafferty was a patient from July 1 to July 14, 1987.). On Thursday, October 28, 1993, Duke died at Falcon's Lair. And then eventually somebody else dropped back. After giving the matter prolonged and serious consideration, I am convinced that I should not have adopted Chandi Heffner. Her lawyer, David Keyko, said yesterday that in. "One hears all sorts of stories about how Rubi started in life, that he was Trujillo's sort of 'Press the doorbell, you answer the doorbell, and he went bang-bang.' Heffner told me, "Doris used to call James 'Teach.' Meanwhile, Heffner is holed up on her Hawaiian ranch. Chandi Duke Heffner, Self: Oh My God. Heffner spent almost six months on and off in two Honolulu hospitals, because she also developed a heart problem. Denise Hale recalls meeting Eduardo Tirella on the set of The Sandpiper, which was directed by her then husband, Vincente Minnelli, and having several dinners at Falcon's Lair. "Her legs were almost starting to atrophy from lack of exercise." . Franco Rossellini assured everyone that he was all for it. Her second husband, Dominican playboy Porfirio Rubirosa, fared only slightly better: His divorce settlement was estimated at $1 million. Heffner pleaded on his behalf and asked to speak to Duke, but Robinson told her that Duke was tired. Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. You can live in the manner that I live and have this lifestyle. ", "I was not involved. Chandi Duke Heffner is known for Oh My God (2009). ", In late 1990, he said, "I detected a growing unhappiness on Doris's part. I think she did it to make James jealous. I think this was the steroid thing happening. . "And later on, for a while, on Irwin Bloom, the financial manager. We came out from opposite sides of the stage, and I got to the middle and she wasn't there. "He was obviously unhappy. She said, 'I'm very frightened. "She looked great," Warnecke says. She was contemplating having knee replacements. "When we were together," Heffner continued, "when things were really great, Doris was in wonderful shape. She told me that her parents did not approve of her lifestyle, and that they'd cut her off from everything. Movies. Much to the surprise of almost everyone who knew Duke, she named her butler of six years, Bernard Lafferty, as executor of her estate and placed him in control of the newly created Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, which is to receive almost her entire fortune. ", Though she still would occasionally joke, "I haven't had any greens lately," which Nancy Cooke de Herrera says was Duke's code for sex, she seemed to be settling down. . He also said that she had lent $600,000 for his company, Health Maintenance Programs, Inc., in 1989; the loan is to be converted into stock, according to the will. Chandi got a couple of the housemen, and they brought him to the Somerville hospital." Doris Duke was murdered. This is a short video of an imaginary conversation between tobacco heiress Doris Duke and her adopted daughter Chandi Heffner, whom she met in a dance class . Duke. A Hare Krishna, sort of, Chandi went to Hawaii in the late 1980s and inveigled herself into the life of another billionaire, Doris Duke, the richest woman in the world. All. He has an alcohol problem, but he's a basically good person. Duke believed that Heffner was the reincarnation of her daughter, Arden. Demopoulos said that Duke had mentioned her suspicions that she was being poisoned. But I have no real medical knowledge of what transpired in California during the spring and summer of last year.". And then the wine was $1,000 a bottle; it came from her father's cellars. Heffner said that she had asked for them almost as a joke, and that Duke was laughing when the agent for the ownerrumored to be Adnan Khashoggi or a Kuwaiti sheikhcalled back and agreed. "But she thought everybody was after her money. . LOS ANGELES (AP) _ An ex-Marine sued the adopted daughter of late tobacco heiress Doris Duke for $33 million in palimony, claiming he gave up three years of his life to encourage her friendship with Duke. He was later retried and acquitted. He used to take her to Gold's Gym." But by the following summer she was noticeably declining again. "Io sono molto contento. "Bernard got out of the hospital. Of course, they had a very attractive life. It wasn't until the following winter, however, Burns told me, that he became romantically involved with Heffner. Doris and I used to go fairly regularly to see the president in the hospital; she would give him reiki treatments.". Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. I suspected that it was Bernard doing thiskeeping the food cold. . A dedicated philanthropist, Chandi Heffner is the founder and President of CDHIFI a charitable foundation that sponsors medical, veterinary and humanitarian assistance to rural regions around the . I called the California home and the other sites many times. . "There were clear indications of a growing trust, affection, and devotion between them. After she returned to Newport later that month, Banks invited her to a concert, but she forgot the date. They maintained a familial relationship until 1990 when Doris Duke disinherited Heffner. She really considered herself a dancer. Instead, she was cremated during the weekend following her death, and her ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean off Shangri La on November 17, 1993, by Bernard Lafferty and Johnny Gomez, along with the hibiscus leis she loved. And Doris said, 'How about the one next to you?' A. once a week wherever we were. He received nothing. Sometimes he acted as the butler, others as a general assistant. They hired him on Ferencz Soltesz's recommendation. Let them kill each other over it.' "O.K., I'm not going to see her, but. . ", "What struck me about Chandi was her hairit came all the way down below her waist," says Phyllis Saretta of her first meeting with Chandi Heffner. I thought she was really nice, genuine.". Chandi Heffner established her organization on a small scale by undertaking humanitarian work in the field. So I fixed another tray and brought it upstairs. She did not directly accuse Lafferty of turning Duke against her. (Von Blow is referring to a 1982 dinner party Duke gave at '21' in New York for his friends shortly after he had been convicted of attempting to murder his wife, Sunny. "I don't think you're supposed to use alcohol with steroids, and she was drinking sherry in the evenings." Id love to be a fly on the wall when David and Victoria Beckham meet their sons fiancees family. Doris loved animals. In a peculiar arrangement, in 1988, the 76-year-old Duke legally adopted the 35-year-old Heffner and bought her a $1 million ranch in Hawaii, where the two lived together as mother and daughter. In 1966, a few days after Duke suddenly shut down the record company she had started for Castro, he broke her jaw, according to Mansfield, and she fled to Newport with Eduardo Tirella, a handsome young set designer. One night at dinner, Heffner told me, "Doris said to me, 'You're my daughter reincarnated. Charlene Gail Heffner goes by the name Chandi Duke Heffner. Then [Franco and I] didn't see Doris anymore. Kids get annoyed with their parents.". . Duke is portrayed by her adopted daughter as a lonely, paranoid recluse in need of constant care. Heffner Duke, adopted in 1988 when she was 38 and the heiress was in her 70s, could not be reached for comment. He felt deeply grateful to Doris, as I did.". Peggy Lee told me that she had spoken to Duke on the phone several times in her last months, and that Duke had made a donation to an AIDS charity that Lee is involved with. On rare occasions I got Bernard. Heffner, who lives on the Big Island of Hawaii on a ranch that Duke previously purchased for her, said in court papers that after their February 1991 breakup she learned that Duke had made changes in her will, and "the estate has not been left to Chandi as Doris had agreed." "She used to come and see me and just cry," says singer Peggy Lee, who was friendly with Tirellaand who would later employ Bernard Lafferty as a butler. In May, a New York judge approved a plan to send the bulk of her estate to charity. Another time, at a college in upstate New York, Bobby [Farrah] didn't have her dancehe had her completely veiled, and she sat on the stage and played finger cymbals. You're Arden. '" And he called from a pay phone, and I felt so sorry for this guy, I said, 'Come to Somerville.' Up to that point, Heffner alleges, the two women shared an extremely close relationship, enjoying not only the opulence of Duke's estates, but also trips to Russia, "fountain of youth" treatments in Romania, finding suitable maids for the ornery billionaire after she'd been "blacklisted" by employment agencies, shopping for a $25 million Boeing 737, and a shared belief that Heffner was the reincarnation of Duke's only child, a daughter who died shortly after birth in 1940. He said the couple, who lived together from 1990 until 1993, agreed that Burns would be not only be her confidante-companion but ``cook, body guard, security specialist and assist in financing any claims Heffner Duke may find it necessary to bring to enforce her rights against Doris Duke.. But on Nicolas mothers side, things get more interesting. . If anyone has news on Chandi from the far reaches of Hawaii, drop us a line at showbiz411@gmail.com. "He was marvelous," says Claus von Blow, who later became Duke's neighbor in Newport. A few hours later, when Heffner returned from a show-jumping lesson, she was informed that Doris had flown to Los Angeles. Earlier this year, Manhattan Surrogate Court Judge Eve Preminger removed Lafferty from that position for allegedly squandering the estates assets on lavish living but Lafferty is appealing the ruling. We had a nice dinner with appropriate toasts, and Franco entertained us with anecdotes and imitations. Column: 15 minutes of fame flies by. In 1987, Heffner handled the negotiations for Duke's most talked-about acquisition: two Bactrian camels, which were thrown in as a sweetener on the deal to purchase a 19-passenger Boeing 737-300 for $25 million. Why doesn't she help you?' She got right up like a trouper and fell right down again. The next day Duke's lawyer called Heffner again and informed her that Duke wanted her out, too. Duke turned up at the Ritz in Paris that October walking with a cane. She wasn't about being a pretty, rich American girl. Chandi said, 'But where do I find a man?' They named them Princess and Baby. Heffner takes credit for everything from improving the dairy herd at Duke Farms to arranging the sale of Duke's gold deposits in Switzerland. No wills! "She got baby doses for a few weeks and that was it. I said, 'Sure, have him call me.' "He seemed depressed, and Doris thought it would give him more self-esteem. "Cromwell was quite nice," says Nelson Seabra, a rich Brazilian friend of Duke's. She had this terrible fear of fire." She was like a flower child, even though the era was over. Chandi Heffner In 1984, Doris met a woman named Chandi Heffner in Hawaii. ". Chandi Duke Heffner was recognized for her outstanding support of the Marshall Legacy Institute's, landmine detection program. This went on almost every meal. On New Year's Day 1964, she ordered him out, and he retaliated by suing her, claiming that they had been secretly married. They all of a sudden just totally cut me off, and I can't believe that was Doris. When Doris was only 14, she successfully sued her mother to stop her from selling Duke Farms, the estate her father had created out of New Jersey flatlands, including a 30-room mansion with an indoor pool and indoor tennis courts, artificial lakes, and man-made hillocks. He rushed to complete what was then the most expensive house on Fifth Avenue in time for her birth at home, on November 22, 1912. The only times I saw Doris really relaxed were these few times in Beverly Hills.". . ") They had done the whole kitchen togetherthe carpentry, everything. It happened on a train to California. We'll travel together. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. I never heard from Doris again and I could never reach her again. The reason it didn't last long was she didn't want them. "It was strange. Phyllis Saretta told me that Duke performed with the Farrah company four or five times, wearing a long black wig. . Bernard Lafferty, a cook named Colin Shanley, and her longtime Tongan maid, Nuku Makasiale, were at her bedside. Duke last made news in 1988, when she posted the $5.3 million bail for her close friend Imelda Marcos, the former Philippines First Lady. ", Another of Duke's intimates said that the real reason her closest friends were in favor of the adoption was that "Doris had contemplated suicide, and we thought we could have some peace of mind that she wouldn't kill herself as long as Chandi was around. Guest introduced Duke to Leon Amar, a 30-year-old Moroccan decorator. Chandi Duke Heffner net worth is $300,000. Years ago, she was talking about the things we all talk about nowthe environment, battered women and children, animal rights. She was so distressed about losing the baby. Then the U.S. government blindsided it, Column: Uber and Lyfts deactivation policy is dehumanizing and unfair. Mahn soon left, and in 1987 co-authored Daddy's Duchess: The Unauthorized Biography of Doris Duke. She never married again, and from then on the men in her life, whether they were lovers or not, were considerably younger and came from the creative world. . Believing that Heffner was the reincarnation of her daughter, Arden, Duke bought her a million-dollar ranch in Hawaii, and . ", Heffner wryly noted that Bernard Lafferty, accompanied by a bodyguard and chauffeur, had sat through her depositions wearing a five-carat-diamond earring, a diamond bracelet, and a diamond watch. One time we were performing at an Arab party at this catering hall in Brooklyn called the Venetian Manor, and Doris and I were partners. On an employment application Lafferty filled out for the Pavillion Agency in New York in September 1986, he said he had worked at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia from 1972 to 1983 and at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City from 1983 to 1985. In 1985, she met Chandi Heffner, a 32-year-old Hari Krishna devotee. . In a settlement signed Thursday by Manhattan Surrogate Court Judge Renee Roth, Chandi Duke Heffner, 42, dropped claims to the $1.2-billion estate and dropped a breach-of-contract suit contending that Duke reneged on a promise to support her for life, said Heffners lawyer, David Keyko. During this period, Duke also plunged into three large-scale public projects. Doris Duke dumped Chandi Heffner because Heffner wanted to marry one of their bodyguards. "Rubi" was also presented with a string of polo ponies and a house in Paris. Doris loved it. This Grand Marnier was so old the labels had been written by hand. And when she left, that adverse thing ceased. Chandi Duke Heffner, the 39-year-old former belly dancer and Hare Krishna devotee who was legally adopted by American Tobacco Co. heiress Doris Duke in 1988, now claims the reclusive 80-year-old billionaire reneged on her promise to make Heffner the sole beneficiary of her estate. That was Doris. 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