"Miss Piggy" to inherit Astor family millions

Charlene Marshall & the late Brooke Astor

Rescuing his grandmother Brooke Astor cost him a cool, $9 million inheritance — but he’d do it all again in a heartbeat.

Philip Marshall says he still has no regrets, nine years after blowing the whistle on his father Tony for swindling the beloved Manhattan philanthropist and secluding her in squalor on Park Avenue — even though the move left him high and dry in the dad’s vengeful will.

“Basically, we saved my grandmother and that was my goal,” Philip told The Post.

“And if it was at the cost of anything I was ever to inherit, I just don’t care. I would do it all again,” said Philip, who advocates nationally for fighting elder abuse.

Tony took his revenge in his will.

As first reported in The Post Wednesday, Tony cut his only two children, Philip and Alexander, and their children — his own grandkids — out of his will.

Anthony Marshall

Instead, he bequeathed the entirety of the estimated $14.5 million fortune he’d inherited from Astor to his widow, Charlene and her children.

Gallingly, Astor’s last millions will be enjoyed by a woman hated by Astor.

Charlene was described during Marshall’s 2009 criminal trial as her husband’s greedy muse — one of Astor’s nurses dubbed her “Miss Piggy” and Astor herself called her,“That bitch” and snarked, “She has no class and no neck,” testimony revealed.

Philip, a Massachusetts professor, and his brother, Alex, a Vermont photographer, had been set to inherit $10 million each under Astor’s will. But that will was voided due to improprieties exposed in large part by the brothers.

Phillip Marshall & Alexander Marshall

Instead, each got a $1 million inheritance directly from Astor.

“I think it’s incredibly honorable of Philip and Alex,” said Meryl Gordon, author of Mrs. Astor Regrets.

“They didn’t want to benefit from their father’s death. And the case was never about money,” said Gordon, whose latest book, The Phantom of Fifth Avenue, details still more alleged elder abuse.

She added, “Philip’s life has really changed from this — he still sometimes cries when he talks about his grandmother and what happened to her and how helpless he felt for such a long time.”

The sordid tale of squalor amidst riches began back in 2006, Philip had been dismayed for years as he watched his beloved grandmother remain shut up in her drab and drafty Park Avenue apartment, sleeping in torn nightgowns and eating pureed peas and carrots on a urine-stained couch.

Tony had fired her French chef, cut back on her meds, nursing staff and doctors visits, and had shuttered her beloved Westchester estate, where she’d always said she wanted to die.

It was Philip who mustered Astor’s A-list of powerful pals: David Rockefeller, Henry Kissenger and Annette de la Renta, and sued for guardianship.

The resulting criminal investigation disclosed that — with Charlene’s encouragement — Tony had tried to loot his mother’s estate out of $60 million.

Through “BeyondBrooke.org,” Philip has testified on elder abuse before the Senate Special Committee on Aging, and has lectured on the topic across the country for law enforcement, legal and civic organizations.

Full Article & Source
"Miss Piggy" to inherit Astor family millions