NEW YORK — Mrs. Astor wouldn't have wanted it this way. Into her late 90s, she rarely left her apartment without a fresh manicure and a string of pearls, explaining, "People want to see Mrs. Astor, not some dowdy old woman." She sent handwritten thank you notes. She did not believe in gossip.
This week, though, New Yorkers were given a painful -- even pitiful -- view of Brooke Astor, 104, who ruled for decades as the grande dame of New York society.
On Thursday, she was in stable condition at Lenox Hill Hospital as allegations swirled that her only child -- former U.S. Ambassador Anthony Marshall, 82 -- had discontinued some of her medications, dressed her in torn nightgowns, stopped physical therapy sessions, refused to let her see her beloved dachshunds, and allowed her apartment to become chilly and run down.
Astor's grandson, Philip Marshall, has filed a petition asking that Astor be placed under the guardianship of Annette de la Renta, wife of clothing designer Oscar de la Renta. A hearing is scheduled for Aug. 8.
Since Wednesday, when the New York Daily News reported the story, the local media have reacted with protective outrage. New York Post columnist Cindy Adams described Anthony Marshall as "the ingrate useless underemployed disgusting male heir to whom she gave birth."
Anthony Marshall said Thursday that he was "shocked and deeply hurt" by the allegations, which he said his son never raised with him before filing the petition. In a statement released by his lawyer, Kenneth Warner, he said he had spent $2.5 million a year caring for Astor, and paid eight staff members who were told to buy her whatever she needed.
"I love my mother, and no one cares more about her than I do," he said. "Her well-being, her comfort and her dignity mean everything to me."
Astor had largely withdrawn from public view after a life that combined glittering privilege with extraordinary philanthropy.
At 56, she inherited the Astor family's real estate fortune after the death of her third husband, Vincent Astor. She since has given about $200 million to libraries, museums, schools and social programs.
Although some viewed her as a social climber when she married Vincent Astor, "she became the queen, above all those women who were her detractors," said David Patrick Columbia, editor of the online journal New York Social Diary. "That was her cleverness."
Calls to Philip Marshall and his lawyer, Ira Salzman, were not returned Thursday.
