Doctors rule heiress not capable to run L'Oreal

Doctors have advised a guardian be appointed to oversee the affairs of the 88-year-old L'Oréal heiress, in a move that could hit the cosmetics giant.

Le Monde yesterday cited medical assessments carried out in November and filed with a French court last month as saying that Liliane Bettencourt, Europe's richest woman, was suffering a "degeneration in her mental and physical faculties".

L'Oral declined to comment. It was confirmed, however, by lawyers for the billionaire's daughter, Franoise Meyers-Bettencourt, who has tried to have her declared a ward of court.

But her mother, ranked the world's 15th-richest person, said in an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche that she was in fine mental health and was more concerned about her daughter.

The Bettencourts hold a nearly 31 per cent stake in L'Oral.

Legal sources said France's highest court was due to meet on 20 June to decide whether a custodian can be appointed. "She (Bettencourt] should be provided with some sort of protection in her everyday acts, both personal and regarding the management of her fortune, such as a reinforced guardianship," Le Monde quoted the doctors as saying.

Ms Meyers-Bettencourt made a ward-of-court application in 2010, alleging her mother was being swindled by a friend, a claim reportedly withdrawn. In December, mother and daughter said they had ended a three-year estrangement. But their fight flared up again last week when Ms Meyers-Bettencourt said her mother continued to be manipulated by her entourage.