The billionaire's ex-wife who couldn't find her kitchen to make the toast

Believe Jocelyn Wildenstein when she says she is no good in the kitchen. So cosseted has been her existence as wife of the art dealer Alec Wildenstein, right, that she has never even had worry where exactly in their Manhattan townhouse, the kitchen actually is, let alone do something as complicated as make toast.

Trouble is the Wildensteins are in the midsts of a divorce of the messiest kind, and this week Jocelyn was in court in New York pleading for help. Her husband and his father, Daniel Wildenstein, had apparently not just turned off her allowance but also told the staff at the townhouse to down tools.

A lawyer for 52-year-old Mrs Wildenstein argued that without help his client was helpless.

"It may be a luxurious townhouse, but to her it's a prison. She doesn't even have keys to the cupboards," said Bernard Clair. "She no longer has her staff; she doesn't even have access to the kitchen".