A French judge placed screen legend Alain Delon under reinforced legal guardianship, a source close to the case and a judicial source said. Delon, who starred in classics such as “Swimming Pool”, “The Leopard” and “Purple Noon”, has been in poor health since he suffered a stroke in 2019. A guardian had since January been in charge of the 88-year-old’s medical decisions, but Thursday’s decision is a step further.

“It implies he is no longer totally free to manage his assets or take decisions, which allows for the management of certain medical aspects concerning him,” the source said. The particular level of guardianship that has been ordered usually means a guardian manages a person’s bank account and expenses.

Delon is believed to be living on his estate in the village of Douchy, more than 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of Paris. A judge in the nearby town of Montargis on Thursday made the legal guardianship decision. A judicial source said prosecutors had asked for the opinion of a doctor, who then alerted the judge. Delon has recently been the centre of an escalating family feud between his sons Anthony and Alain-Fabien, and his daughter Anouchka. The quarrel went public after the oldest son Anthony Delon told the Paris Match magazine that his father was in a “weakened” state.

He has accused his half-sister Anouchka of wanting to take their father to Switzerland, a country of which the actor has been a citizen since 1999, against his will to avoid “huge tax” on inheritance. She has replied that she wanted to take him there for medical treatment. Police have seized 72 firearms from Delon’s home because he did not have permits for them.

In the latest development, Anouchka is suing her brothers for infringing on her private life by publishing a conversation between her and her father. A trial date has been set for April next year, a court said last week. Delon is estimated to be worth millions. He sold some 80 works of art at auction in June for more than eight million euros ($8.7 million). — AFP