Just weeks before he welcomes Pope Benedict XVI to these shores, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster finds himself embroiled in an unseemly legal battle involving a former Miss Great Britain.Most Rev. Dr Vincent Nichols, who was selected by Pope Benedict for the most powerful Catholic job in Britain, has been asked to intervene in the dispute — which focuses on the will of Doreen Dawne, who was crowned Miss GB in the early Fifties.
In her youth, Doreen’s male admirers included Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope. For years, Doreen kept up her friendship with Hope, who used to send her birthday and Christmas cards.
Now her bijou London apartment at a sought-after address in Chelsea is the subject of a bitter dispute. Five years after her death, probate has still not been granted.
A High Court hearing is scheduled for later this year over who is to benefit from her estate.
Her younger brother Terence Gaffney, who lives in Los Angeles, felt obliged to contact the Archbishop, and has written him two letters disputing the Catholic Church’s right to the proceeds of the sale of Doreen’s flat.
Also objecting is Doreen’s friend and neighbour Onu Rhaman. The duo insist a will naming nearby St Michael’s Catholic Church as the beneficiary is invalid and they are disputing its authenticity.
Says Terence, 76: ‘My sister never married. I have seen her signature on this will leaving everything to the Catholic Church, and it just doesn’t look right to me. I wrote one letter to the Archbishop, to which he replied saying someone else was dealing with the matter.
‘But I have had no reply at all to my second letter. He has just completely ignored it, which I think is outrageous.’
The flat was sold quickly after Doreen’s death — for a snip at £300,000 because of its short lease. But the money remains in limbo.
Meanwhile, divorcee Rhaman, a retired aviation consultant who knew Doreen for more than two decades and helped her when she became infirm in later years, was named in another will and has called in a handwriting expert to support his claim.
Says a spokesman from the Catholic Information Office: ‘This is a private matter.’
SIC: DMUK