A former Spanish beauty queen -- the wife of Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza -- is playing a leading role in a family court battle about to be fought in Bermuda, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The story, which appeared on June 9, describes Baroness Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza as "fighting with her stepchildren over the Thyssen-Bornemisza's industrial fortune''.

The case, due to be heard in Bermuda sometime this year, pits the Baron against his four children as he attempts to wrest control of his $2.8 billion empire. Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza is suing his son Georg in an attempt to get the terms of Bermuda-based Continuity Trust set aside. He claims he was misled in the setting up of the trust and is not getting enough annual income as allegedly promised. The Wall Street Journal story brings up accusations that it is really the Baron's wife Carmen who is attempting to get back control so she can inherit the fortune.

The article describes Baroness Thyssen-Bornemisza as a "chain-smoking blonde who won the Miss Spain beauty title in 1961 and went on to marry Lex Barker, the Hollywood actor who played Tarzan and had a leading role in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita.'' In an interview with the newspaper's reporters the Baroness, known as Tita, insisted that the lawsuit "is not my battle''.

However the newspaper states Bermuda Supreme Court Puisne Judge Dennis Mitchell "recognised that the Baroness had an interest in the case and ordered that she and the Baron disclose relevant documents''. The Baron's lawyers are appealing the ruling in the Court of Appeal. That appeal is due to be heard beginning tomorrow. The Royal Gazette has been told that the Baron is arguing that the documents are privileged information with his former lawyer, now a judge of the English High Court.

The main assets of the trust are Monte Carlo-based Thyssen-Bornemisza Group, a conglomerate that earned $100 million last year. The Baron was also one of the world's largest art collectors until the trust sold the collection to the Spanish government for $350 million. "This is not the first time that the baroness has been at odds with her stepchildren over a fortune,'' the newspaper stated. "An heir of Lex Barker claims the Baroness came away with 95 per cent of his father's estate, which was then valued around $2 million or more, during an out-of-court settlement in Geneva in the mid-1970s.'' The Baroness denied that there was ever a dispute over Mr. Barker's estate.

During the interview she also claimed that Georg, the son being sued and who controls the family fortune, is not really her husband's son. She claimed that Georg is instead the son of the Baron's sister's former husband.

She claimed that she will ask for DNA tests during the court case. "I am willing to do whatever it takes,'' she is quoted as stating.

In an interview with the paper Georg in turn acknowledged that he "doesn't know for certain who his father is, but says the allegations about his parentage are `extremely ugly' for the Baron,'' the newspaper stated. In 1981 the Baroness, then known as Carmen Cervera, met the Baron at a dinner party in Sardinia. At the time the Baron was still married to his fourth wife, Brazilian beauty Denise Shorto.

The Baron stated in the paper that he wants to make sure Tita is well provided for after his death. Currently she won't get anything from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Group when he dies.

The Baron's lawyers told the newspaper that they would argue that Georg failed to look after his father's interests in administering the trust. Georg in turn will argue the father knew exactly what he was doing in setting up the trust.

BUSINESS BUC