Legendary Actor in Poor Health, Placed Under Legal Protection Order
The legal order was issued amid a public spat between the actor's three children.
Alain Delon is currently under legal protection following concerns about his health and well-being as his children argue over the medical and living arrangements for the 88-year-old actor. According to French media on Monday, a guardianship judge made the decision this week.
In addition to preventing Delon from selling major assets, the legal protection order requires a third-party representative to assist Delon in choosing healthcare providers and treatment, though it will not disrupt his daily life, reported Deadline.
Alain Delon placé sous sauvegarde judiciaire : qu'est-ce que ça signifie ? https://t.co/0HsGiOXj4f pic.twitter.com/UeFF2C7HRm
— Tribunal du net (@Letribunaldunet) January 30, 2024
This legal order was handed down amid public infighting between Delon's eldest son Anthony, whose mother is the French model Francine Canovas, and his daughter and son Anouchka and Alain-Fabien, whose mother is the Dutch model and TV presenter Rosalie van Breemen.
In early January, they became engaged in a public feud over Delon's condition after a Paris Match interview in which Anthony expressed fears for his father, saying that there was a significant risk that 2023 would be his last Christmas." The Swimming Pool star suffered a stroke in 2019, and he has been in poor health since.
Public prosecutor Jean-Cédric Gaux announced in early January that an authorized doctor, who resides close to the village of Douchy in France, where Delon resides in a 19th-century chateau, would assess the French actor. Taking this measure, Gaux said, was in response to two opposing letters from Delon's lawyer, Christophe Ayela, and his son Anthony, which both called for legal protection for the actor due to health reasons, according to Deadline.
Despite Delon receiving a medical checkup on Jan. 13, Anthony released a statement discrediting the exam on Jan. 15. Angry that only Anouchka had been allowed to attend the examination, he suggested that the assessment had been conducted by a general physician rather than an authorized specialist.
Previously, Anthony claimed that his younger sister Anouchka kept him and his brother in the dark about a series of cognitive tests Delon underwent in a Swiss clinic between 2019 and 2022 that revealed he was suffering from cognitive decline, per Deadline.
Ayela, Delon's lawyer, warned a few days after the Paris Match announcement that Anthony had suddenly withdrawn the conventional medical care the Swiss clinic provided to his father. "Anthony Delon has decided to treat his father's illness with fruit juice and vegetables prescribed by a naturopath," he said.
For different reasons, Anthony's lawyer and Ayela asked the public prosecutor to place Delon under legal protection. According to the order, Delon needed a "neutral and impartial" judicial agent for the protection of adults as a result of disagreements between his children.
Delon's children released separate statements in support of the order. "If this can help put things straight and prevent lawyers from talking about my father's illness without even having consulted the files, this medical controversy will end once and for all," Anthony Delon told the Europe 1 radio network.