A matter of Money and Heartbreak

Tamara Mellon's mum has told of the bitter rift with her daughter that means they have not spoken for almost five years.

Ann Yeardye, 70, spoke out a few days after Mellon was named by David Cameron as a global trade envoy.

A former model, Yeardye also revealed her heartbreak over being banned from seeing her granddaughter, Mellon's 8-year-old girl Minty. She said her daughter, who has made a fortune from her Jimmy Choo shoe empire, has also cut off all contact with her two brothers. The family fell out over £6 million (Dh35 million) in company shares, which Mellon, 43, claimed had been wrongly paid to a family trust.

The row ended in a court battle which Mellon won last year.

Mum's plea

Yeardye claims she has begged her daughter to get back in touch.

"Like any mum, I am so proud of all that Tamara has achieved," said Yeardye, who lives in Beverly Hills.

"And when I read about David Cameron appointing her as a global trade envoy, I could not believe it. But sadly I cannot tell Tamara how very happy I am for her, because she won't speak to me or her own brothers. And for us that is tragic."

Mellon spoke last year of the feud with her mother after the court case. She described her mother as a "sociopath" and claimed she was jealous of her looks and success.

"We never got along," she said. "She wanted to be me, I think, which seems sad."

Seared by words

Yeardye said her daughter's bitter words have torn her life apart, especially as she has been cut off from her granddaughter, whose father is Mellon's ex-husband, banking scion Matthew Mellon.

Yeardye said: "The thing which breaks my heart more is being apart from my darling little granddaughter Minty. I haven't seen her in four and a half years."

Yeardye was left devastated when her husband Tommy died six years ago.

It was entrepreneur Mr Yeardye who lent Mellon £150,000 (Dh866,293) in 1996 to start a business with Malaysian-born shoemaker Jimmy Choo. However, when he died, the family began to fall apart. The divide between mother and daughter deepened in 2004 after the sale of Jimmy Choo to an investment group. Mellon remained in control of the firm but an accounting error meant some shares were paid into a trust controlled by Yeardye.

"It is always Tamara's voice which is heard and I have tried to keep my dignity," Yeardye said. "But these days we are left wondering who Tamara is. She has no relationship with me or her brothers and that is terrible and so sad".

Unable to see her, she is just left with an all-encompassing sadness that she cannot congratulate her daughter in person.

Living in hope

She said: "Whatever the situation is and whatever the hurt and pain you have, you have to be proud, terribly proud of your daughter.

"And that is why I feel so sad I cannot share these moments with her.

"I didn't reach out to her after it was announced about her new role, as we have tried in the past and have been told not to contact her. So there seems no point in doing that."

Yeardye, however, was quick to add that she has not lost hope and that she always tried to remain optimistic that one day she will be part of Mellon's life again.

She said: "We always hope that maybe we will work things out and one can only hope that one day we will be a family again. I have to believe that is always a possibility.'