Relaxing like a feline Marie Antoinette in the grounds of the Palace of Versailles, Choupette looked every inch the Queen of Cats.The blue-cream Birman with bright turquoise eyes and silky white fur spent nearly a decade as the much-loved pet of Karl Lagerfeld, the German fashion guru who died aged 85 in 2019.While Lagerfeld was still alive, Choupette travelled between luxury homes around the world in a £25million private jet and three Rolls-Royces, including the superstar Chanel designer’s favourite jet black Phantom convertible. She was looked after by a team of two personal maids, a chef and a bodyguard, and regularly celebrated her birthday beside the scenic ornamental lakes of the royal estate.But as she approaches the age of 15 – a significant milestone for any cat – her carer, Lagerfeld’s former French housekeeper Francoise Cacote, is no doubt looking for a humbler party venue. This is not just because Choupette will turn the equivalent of 76 in human years on August 15, but because the unlimited wealth that was once available to her when Lagerfeld called her the ‘richest cat in the world’ is gone.The Daily Mail can reveal that, after seven years of wrangling, the beneficiaries of the £250million plus Lagerfeld estate have finally been named and – against all expectations – neither Choupette nor her new owner are among them.Instead, Lagerfeld – a lifelong bachelor who never had any children and was estranged from relatives in his hometown of Hamburg – appears to have decided they’d be able to get by on the gifts he bequeathed them while he was still alive and based in Paris.Choupette’s ‘disinheritance’ will come as a shock to the fashion world that once treated the cat with almost as much reverence as Lagerfeld himself.At one point shortly after the designer’s death, it was suggested the fluffy Birman – or Ms Cacote on her behalf – would receive a sizeable share of his millions. Karl Lagerfeld and the cat he was so devoted to, Choupette, before his death aged 85 in 2019 Despite his love for Choupette, she is not a beneficiary of the German designer's £250m estateThe designer repeatedly professed his devotion to the cat, after all – ‘I have only one great love, my cat, Choupette’ – and was cremated with a piece of aquamarine jewellery bearing the animal’s likeness. Some even claimed, albeit improbably, she might get the whole lot.Yet in an interview with US magazine The Atlantic last week, Ms Cacote – a married mother in her 50s with teenage children – revealed neither she nor Choupette have seen no money at all from the estate.‘I want to be completely transparent – today, we have received absolutely nothing,’ she said.Instead, clearly still assuming she and Choupette have a valid claim to some portion of the designer’s fortune, she expressed bafflement that the money had not been released to her.Ms Cacote also confirmed she had ‘hired expensive lawyers to claim the inheritance in my name and ensure that Karl’s wishes are properly respected’.Entrusted with caring for Choupette after the death of the self-styled Kaiser, or Emperor, from cancer in 2019, Ms Cacote still ensures that the cat lives a life of rare luxury.Known as Choupette Lagerfeld – the designer once expressed his regret that humans could not marry animals – the cat is carried around in a monogrammed Louis Vuitton bag, eats organic food from antique china bowls, and generally enjoys five-star pampering around the clock.Beyond seafood, her favourite dishes are Japanese-style beef, and chicken gelee served with asparagus, and she only eats at mahogany dining tables, not on the floor. Model Baptiste Glabiconi will now receive around 30 per cent of Lagerfeld's estate Driver Sebastien Jondeau is also set to inherit a whopping 20 per cent of the German's wealth Another significant beneficiary of Lagerfeld's will is US model Brad Kroenig, with 20 per centChoupette was never wealthy herself, of course. Domestic pets in France and Monaco cannot have a bank account opened for them and are not legally entitled to inherit anything. But now it seems there was never any guarantee that Ms Cacote would inherit cash and property on Choupette’s behalf either.The disentangling of Lagerfeld’s last will and testament, and by extension of Ms Cacote’s hopes, has proven a long, complicated and emotionally fraught affair.The Daily Mail has learned that probate was finally achieved after the designer’s long-term Paris lawyer and financial adviser, Lucien Frydlender, died in Israel two years ago, at the age of 91.Frydlender was at the centre of a corruption investigation after placing millions of pounds-worth of his old friend’s assets in shell companies around the world, including in Britain, Ireland and the British Virgin Islands, to avoid paying tax. Like many alleged felons with dual French and Israeli nationality, Frydlender fled to Tel Aviv because Israel does not extradite criminal suspects.A legal source close to the case said: ‘Frydlender literally vanished straight after Lagerfeld’s death. Not even his family in Switzerland seemed to know where he was when the hunt for the millions was heating up – they always claimed he was still in Paris, but his office remained empty.‘The French financial authorities were after Frydlender, but executors in Monaco were able to make a lot more progress following his confirmed death in Israel in 2024.’Lagerfeld, Frydlender’s most famous client for some 40 years, spent most of his time in Paris, but designated the tax haven of Monaco as his primary residence, meaning French and Monegasque law applied to the will.Forensic investigators working for France’s financial ministry set about unpicking the complex system of companies set up to shield the money from tax.The source said: ‘Once found, assets including multiple properties and top marque cars were auctioned or sold off, so as to provide liquid cash that could be distributed among the benefactors of the will.’There were also carpets that had once belonged to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette – the King and Queen of France who were in Versailles at the start of the 1789 Revolution – ancient Greek marble busts, and Old Master paintings.Lagerfeld’s libraries held at least 300,000 volumes, many of them first editions, and his extensive wardrobes included more than 1,000 classic English white shirts made by Hilditch & Key, the historic gentlemen’s outfitter in Jermyn Street, London.Other gems of the Lagerfeld estate included at least three sumptuous apartments in Paris, one in Rome, a villa in Monte Carlo, country homes near the French capital in Fontainebleau and Louveciennes, seaside retreats on France’s Atlantic coast at Biarritz, in Brittany, and on the French Riviera, and pads in New York and Vermont in the US.The legal source said: ‘A worldwide property portfolio had to be accounted for, along with the incredible treasures inside.‘Karl Lagerfeld was always moving, and loved secret hideaways where he could enjoy his privacy, so the challenge included finding out what still belonged to him at the time of his death.’Other obstacles to achieving probate included an unidentified person claiming Lagerfeld was ‘not of sound mind’ when he signed the will on April 29, 2016.The complainant – thought to be a member of Lagerfeld’s German family – could have annulled the entire written will, so that the estate was divided up between distant relatives, but their objection was dismissed by judges.The Daily Mail understands that there were seven legitimate claimants in all, and they instructed the same law firm to look after their interests, so as to limit friction between each other.After Frydlender’s death, their lawyers advised them to make a joint payment of some £17million in tax and other costs as a final settlement to the authorities.Wills are confidential in Monaco and France, but two independent sources said the main benefactor of what was left was French model Baptiste Giabiconi, who got close to a third of the estate because Lagerfeld viewed him as ‘my son’.Now 35, Giabiconi was in fact Choupette’s original owner – he left her with Lagerfeld in Paris while he was travelling at Christmas in 2011.The designer fell in love with the cat, calling her ‘the centre of the world’, and saying she reminded him of Swedish-American movie legend Greta Garbo.After formally adopting Choupette – he told Baptiste Giabiconi there was no chance of getting her back – Lagerfeld assigned staff to look after her, and insisted that they document her adventures ‘and emotions’ every day in a journal.Lagerfeld said at the time: ‘She has several maids. She’s not alone. She’s like a chic lady – a kept woman with personal staff.’Birmans – which are also known as the ‘Sacred Cats of Burma’ – are particularly loving and gentle, making them a dream to care for. The very name Choupette can be loosely translated into English as ‘Sweetie’.Other major benefactors of the will – on 20 per cent each – are Lagerfeld’s former bodyguard and chauffeur, Sebastien Jondeau, 51, and Brad Kroenig, the 46-year-old American male model.Choupette will by no means struggle financially, however. Beyond the sizeable house with garden in the greater Paris region that Lagerfeld gave Ms Cacote and her family before his death, a cash sum thought to be in the region of £1million was invested for ‘living expenses’, too.At this point it is not clear why Ms Cacote assumed more would be forthcoming in the will.More than that, Ms Cacote benefits from Choupette’s ongoing commercial activities, which include acting as an ambassador for a range of approved products.A recent marketing campaign – thought to have earned her the equivalent of around £100,000 – was for the Choupette range of cat items made by Maisons du Monde [Houses of the World], the French furniture multinational.It includes a snazzy cat basket and – according to sales literature – is inspired by ‘a true cultural icon’ who ‘is instantly recognisable and inspires millions of people around the world’.Choupette also has her own showbusiness agent in Paris, and gets regular commissions via the Paris talent company My Pet Agency.Because of her advancing years, stunt cats and other stand-ins are sometimes used as pretend Choupettes and there is a strict two-hour shoot limit when Choupette shows up herself.She has been a successful and highly paid influencer for years, including during the days when she was with Lagerfeld.Following his death, she appeared in a black veil over the message: ‘Thank you everyone for your words of condolence. With a once cold but now simply broken heart, I am going into mourning.’The post concluded: ‘I pray that your kind words and well-wishes will help me to put my best paw forward in my future without Daddy Karl Lagerfeld and as my own woman.’The beautiful Choupette has indeed made a hugely impressive recovery, and – despite not being quite as rich as she might have been – remains France’s undisputed Queen of Cats.