The children of legendary Formula One driver Sir Stirling Moss are embroiled in a bitter High Court battle over the £27.8million fortune left by Lady Susie Moss.
Court documents filed by Sir Stirling’s son, Stirling Elliot Moss, contain grave accusations against his stepmother’s 2022 will, which he disputes with his half-sister Allison Bradley.
Lady Moss inherited the majority of her husband’s £22million estate before her own death on March 18 2023, aged 69.
The 29-page counter-claim lodged by Elliot, a professional chef, alleges the contested will was “procured by undue influence and/or fraudulent calumny” by a friend and potential beneficiary who allegedly “poisoned” Lady Moss’s mind against her son.
Corroborating evidence for these allegations has yet to emerge publicly.
The counter-claim further alleges that Lady Moss “lacked capacity to manage her affairs” following decades of alcohol dependency and depression, which purportedly caused “damage to her brain”, “episodes of irrational anger” and “false beliefs”.
According to the court filing, Sir Stirling’s death in April 2020 triggered a “complex bereavement disorder” in his widow, who “would carry the urn containing his ashes with her, cradling it and on occasions dabbing his ashes behind her ears”.
Classic car collector Richard Frankel, 61, faces the most serious accusations in the submission, though he has not been joined to the proceedings.
Sir Stirling Moss’s children are embroiled in a bitter High Court battle over the £27.8 million fortune left by Lady Susie Moss
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The allegations claim Frankel would visit the Moss home during Sir Stirling’s final years, “drink” with Lady Moss, and “often lying in between Lady Moss and Sir Stirling on the bed, including sleeping there overnight”.
Following Sir Stirling’s death, Frankel allegedly encouraged Lady Moss to gift “her entire residuary estate” to her stepdaughter during a meeting just two weeks before she signed the disputed January 2022 will, at which she was reportedly cradling her late husband’s ashes.
The document states Frankel is named as a beneficiary of that will, though it does not specify what he stood to inherit.
Elliot is seeking a court ruling in favour of an earlier will dated April 29 2002, which he claims included a letter of wishes dividing the residuary estate 75 per cent to 25 per cent in his favour.
Sir Stirling Moss died in April 2020
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Bradley, Sir Stirling’s daughter from his second marriage to American public relations executive Elaine Barbarino, has until January 28 to respond to the counter-claim.
She reportedly plans to allege that the contents contain numerous inaccuracies.
The counterclaim also raises questions about Sir Stirling’s racing helmet from his final race, which is allegedly untraceable.
Frankel reportedly told a solicitor that Lady Moss “had looked for the helmet but could not find it”.
Sir Stirling is widely considered the greatest F1 driver never to win a world championship claiming victory in 16 of his 66 grand prix starts
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Sir Stirling, widely considered the greatest F1 driver never to win a world championship.
He claimed victory in 16 of his 66 grand prix starts between 1951 and 1961, becoming the first British driver to triumph at a home race at Aintree in 1955.
Elliot reportedly inherited £132,000 upon his father’s death but told the Evening Standard he had received no windfall from his parents and faced selling his London restaurant Plu or family home, with legal costs consuming his funds.
The restaurant closed in 2024.
