A luxury hotel owner has triumphed in a 29-year ‘absolutely insane’ battle with her family over an old suitcase full of photos of her late mother.
Judith Andersson, 76, and her brother Tim’s widow Diane Ward, 77, earned £70,000 in legal fees despite the photos and papers – which were driven to court in the blue case – had ‘no monetary value’.
Both claimed the archives of the family that founded the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem, a magnet for celebrities such as Lawrence of Arabia, Winston Churchill and Bob Dylan.
After the death of Frieda Ward in the west London in 1993 the treasure came into the hands of Tim Ward. But after he and John, Mrs. Andersson’s other sibling, both died within a month of each other, she sued Mrs. Ward and her son, as executors, to the records.
Ms Andersson, who now lives in the US, told the Central London district court, “It was specifically expected that the last of us alive would have the records.”
And her lawyer Oliver Ingham said the briefcase is an “invaluable repository of her family history.”
Judge Mark Raeside KC, who handed the win to Ms Andersson, said the photos had been kept in confidence by Tim Ward for all three siblings and that it was now “Judith’s time to take advantage of them”.
After a case previously described as ‘completely crazy’ by another judge, he ordered Mrs Ward and her son Peter to pay the £70,000 legal bill. But after Mrs Andersson’s death, the case must be returned to Mrs Ward and her son, “and therefore return to its proper place.”
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