CB suggested I do this story, so let’s see if I can get through it without crying. Last year, fashion designer Alexander McQueen committed suicide. It was a devastating tragedy, and his friends, coworkers and family are still picking up the pieces after his death. McQueen’s will has just been made public, and it turns out that McQueen had gotten all of his affairs in order before his suicide, including making financial arrangements for the charities closest to his heart, as well as making sure his dogs would be taken care of. He left about $26 million to animal charities, plus $82,000 in a trust to whoever took care of his dogs. It’s said that his dogs were one of the last concerns McQueen had, and his suicide note consisted of “Look after my dogs, sorry, I love you, Lee.” Yeah. I’m crying.
His puppies: Minter, a mongrel; Juice, an English bull terrier; and Callum, a Rhodesian ridgeback. The charities: Battersea Dogs & Cats Home and The Blue Cross, both charities that work with finding animals a home. He also donated money to the London Buddhist Center and his own Sarabande charity – he requested that Sarbande create scholarships and grants for design students. He also left 50,000 pounds each to his two housekeepers, and made arrangements for his godson, nieces, nephews and his three sisters and two brothers.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
This is so sad. =/
Aww. I love anybody who loves animals. Nice to see he left so much money to animal charities. One of my biggest concerns is if something happens to me will my dog understand? Or will he think I just left him? 🙁 I hope his dogs are well cared for and that they can stay together.
i love animals but that is ridiculous. donate the money to kids.
That is so sweet. And it’s sweet he left money to his housekeepers.
How sad.
Those animals WERE his kids! How about YOU donate money to kids and call it a day!
How Leona Helmsley-esque…
I love my dogs to death but just NO!
It’s so sad because if he had gotten all his affairs in order before committing suicide is because he really wanted to die, I mean… it didn’t commit suicide in a moment of desperation, he planned everything… it’s so tragic and sad
Just shut the f**k up with the “he should have left his money to kids” crap. Animals are very important to some people, and he can do whatever he wanted with his millions. HIS MILLIONS!!!!!!
People need to remember that although it may seem like a lot to us he had and left millions to charity…in comparison to that 80,000 is almost nothing. let him take care of his dogs
He also left £100,000 (about $200,000?) to Terrence Higgins Trust, a UK HIV/AIDs charity. So he didn’t just leave his money to animals (although it would be fine if he did)!
McQueen is one of those talents that will be missed for decades and this note just made me love him even more.
I still can´t believe he´s gone so soon, so young. God bless him.
@Janie, people who are rich can afford to pay literally thousands should they encounter any kind of problem with their pets to include cancer, horrible car accidents, etc., which can start running into the thousands especially THREE dogs over the course of their respective lifetimes. I have friends who still cry because they had to put their pet down when it was hit by a car, because just for starters it costs over a grand to even begin helping them. Most people can’t afford that, but it doesn’t mean our pets don’t deserve it.
He also left money to family and millions to help animals find homes. I think leaving 50 grand to his housekeepers shows he was a very very appreciative, thoughtful person as well. Some peoples hearts are more with people, some with the environment, the arts, animals, curing diseases, or what have you. Personally I really think it takes all kinds. Also I would love to be able to leave thousands in money for my wonderful dog who has loved me unconditionally.
As compassionate and generous and thoughtful and beautiful in death as he was in life. Makes me sad all over again that he’s no longer around.
Wow, that was pretty thourogh to learn he made so many financial affairs in order and no one is contesting them. It seems so…final. a very well thought out intentional passing.
@ Ana: You expressed exactlty how I feel so thank you for your words.
Weepy? Yeah, me too.
Alexander McQueen was amazing, just amazing. I’m fortunate to have his “milkmaid” top from several years ago and I’ll never sell it (even though it’s too small for me right now).
Anyway, I have provisions for my animals in my will. We don’t have kids and they’re as close to kids as I’ll ever have so they will be taken care of when I’m gone. If that makes me Leona Helmsley or some other person to make fun of, so be it. I wear it with pride.
Leona Helmsley, I think left her money to the animals as a spite move to all the people in her life, she was just that evil. Alexander left care and means for his “fur kids”, he was thoughtful and generous all the way around. It is so sad that he felt he would be better off “gone”. It’s really heartbreaking to consider it.It is a shame he did not get help. They say people who have been depressed and then suddenly start to become more upbeat and taking care of affairs; they have made a plan and are relieved, for many that plan is suicide. My prayers to him and his family.
That’s so sad, but also sweet that he made arrangements for the things, people, and animals he really cared about in life.
It’s wonderful that he left money for his dogs. Unfortunately so many animals end up being put down after their owners die because there’s no one to take care of them. Also, why should he have left his money to kids as someone said? Those dogs WERE his kids. And who he decided to leave his money to is nobody’s business.
I think we should ease up on the people who aren’t really sympathetic to this news. No one is suggesting that his dogs should be given the Ol’ Yeller treatment, no one said that his donations and gifts were made in anything but the spirit of kindness and care and no one is trying to get some kind retroactive power of attorney so the funds can be re-distributed ‘correctly’. It’s his money, his plans, his concerns and his business, not ours. That’s a given. But amongst those who would count themselves as one of the animal lovers it is honestly so difficult to see why someone who isn’t inclined towards that deep passion would be baffled?
I grew up around people who were much older than me, even within the realm of the inter-generational. Age, location, money, cultural attitudes and rural life meant that people were animal likers, not lovers. People had deep affection for their pets when once the inevitable comes, that’s that. And since they were the products of a poor rural society, common phrases like ‘like my children’ might as well be Greek. It’s just a different well of experience.
Hugs, @Funnylilou75
aaaah so weird to see a story about him. I just went yesterday to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan to see the Alexander Mcqueen exhibit which features a lot of pieces from his collections. It was really interesting and VERY crowded since so many people are interested in it since he died so tragically. Nice to know he cared so much about his dogs–he had no kids and he wasn’t married so just as well leave the money to go towards their care.
My grandfather left $15,000 for the care of his (one) dog upon his death. His dog was his best friend and companion since he lost his wife. He wanted to make sure the caregiver would have enough to care for her despite what may happen in its life.
People have causes that are dear to their hearts. What may be important to me, may not be to the next person. I’m not going to judge someone based on their final decisions. It’s better that it was left to charities at all rather than letting others fight over it.
BTW – I have children and animals. They are all in my will should something happen to me. Of course I love my children more, but I still love my animals and want to ensure they’re all taken care of.
Hey Janie – you earn some money and then YOU can donate it to children! And if you missed it, he left money for his nieces and nephews and other relatives, none of which was an obligation.
I think it’s neat that McQueen left money for his own animals, and for others. Very generous. And I think no one had the right to say Leona Helmsley couldn’t leave similar donations – those were HER wishes. If I were fabulously wealthy and had the notion that someone would contest my will, I’d give it away while i was alive, in large part.
I just wish McQueen hadn’t committed suicide. WHY did he do it? So sad.
so sad. What a sweet soul he was. Its so sweet how he looked after his animals as well as his family and house keepers.
I love my animals so much i couldnt bear the thought of leaving them behind. They are my furbabies and make me so happy
Some people find it wasteful and frivolous to leave that much to dogs. I say, who cares? It’s his money, and he has the right to allocate it however he sees fit. He could have left every last penny of his estate to the dogs, and it would still be his right.
People are nuts and so uneducated. THOSE WERE HIS CHILDREN!! They are precious living beings who need to be taken care of. He wanted to ensure they were. He loved them very much, and they loved him too so so much. It was his money he worked hard for and if he wanted to have a heart of gold and take care of the babies he loved, then who the hell is someone to tell him he shouldn’t… give me a break.. of course he should and did.. he was a wonderful man.
Okay with the janie pile-on, holy crow! You disagree with her, fine, so disagree to your heart’s content, it’s everyone’s right. I really don’t care if I come off as a sanctimonious scold, so I’ll just say outright that I rue the day when telling people to that they need to shut the fuck up for deigning to not share every single one of your beliefs. ‘Need to’? Says who and why? Shouldn’t we be thinking about Oslo instead of dogs? Maybe we all could stand to fork over a few more dollars to the children’s charity of our choice instead of suggest it spitefully. Don’t worry, you can tell me to shut the fuck up or to crawl into a hole and die soon, I just have to say that I wish there were more debates in these disagreements instead the bullying that’s taking over a lot the threads. It’s Celebitchy, not Celebully. The name of a website only goes so far. So do your worst.
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The ways that McQueen and Helmsley approached charity were vastly different. McQueen cared, Leona Helmsley didn’t swing that way. She wasn’t a charitable person so it’s not like her and her dog are slapping paws together in joy because they’re seeing their good works continue. Not giving your employees their wages doesn’t make you an animal activist, it makes you a slave-driver and that’s what she was because that’s what she did. You don’t end up in litigation that often because you said something bad about Parker Lewis Can’t Lose. She was a brazen thief and spoke terribly of those who were less well-heeled than she was and treated people abominably. The hullabaloo following her death wasn’t about respecting her wishes or or trying to posit values on ‘her’ money. It wasn’t about the dog, either. It was about keeping that share of her ill-gotten gains away from people who had legitimate claims and giving them a final finger in stating that one dog was worth more than all of those people, she was twisting the knife. A very mean woman.
Sounds like a really thoughtful will to me, which just makes it sadder. Like anait said earlier, he really did want to kill himself.
I got teary when it was stated he left money to his housekeepers I mean damn that’s just sweet on so many levels. I understand the animal charities and that but leaving money to housekeepers, classy. Speaks volumes of a man who thought of everyone.
And 26m pounds is a lot to go around. How thoughtful to give most of it to charity. That’s a lot of money when you think of it in terms of how they survive and usually on little grants and things like $50k here and there. $26m must be like Christmas for them. That’s going to help a lot of animals (and people).