Celebrity Jocelyn Wildenstein’s cause of death revealed

The iconic headline figure, known for her extensive facial surgery that gave her feline features, died in her sleep on New Year’s Eve at the age of 84.

According to her longtime partner Lloyd Klein, Wildenstein was preparing for the 2025 birth and appeared to be in “perfect” health just days before.

Just one day after Wildenstein’s sudden death, Klein gave insight into his lover’s final hours.

“We had a nice happy hour that same evening,” said the well-known fashion designer, “and we got ready for the New Year and took a little nap to look good before getting dressed.”

Klein says he woke up first and then tried in vain to shake Wildenstein awake.

“I said, ‘Jocelyn, we need to wake up, we need to get dressed,'” he recalls, “and she was cold and dead.”

What made things even more heartbreaking, according to Klein, was the fact that Wildenstein had been in “perfect” health just days before.

“We were at the Ritz two days ago. “We had dinner,” he explained.

“We previously went to Chanel for Fashion Week. Everything was good, everything was good.”

According to Klein, Wildenstein suffered from a condition known as phlebitis, which causes inflammation of the veins due to damage to the vein walls or blood clots that block blood flow.

Wildenstein’s grandmother is also said to have suffered from it.

Klein claimed that his partner’s legs had been severely affected by the diagnosis, causing them to swell and cause congestion from a pulmonary embolism.

“Because of her phlebitis, her legs were very, very swollen,” he said PEOPLE“and the blood was blocked and there was no oxygen to the brain.”

Understandably, Klein, who was first linked to Wildenstein in 2003, is deeply heartbroken by the loss.

“It’s extremely sad to lie with the other half I know for 21 years, waiting to celebrate New Year’s Eve and then finding them cold (instead),” he said.

The media personality, dubbed “Catwoman” and “The Bride of Wildenstein” by the press, rose to public prominence in 1999 following her divorce from art dealer Art Wildenstein.

In a 1998 publication in Vanity FairArt, who eloped with Jocelyn at a Vegas wedding in 1978, claimed he tried to talk sense into her and accept her natural looks.

“She thought she could fix her face like a piece of furniture. “Skin doesn’t work that way,” he said, “but she wouldn’t listen.”

During her marriage, Wildenstein underwent multiple facelifts and facial reconstruction surgeries, resulting in her infamous cat-like face, which consisted of bulging eyes and slightly over-emphasized cheekbones.

Art, who also went under the knife more than once, eventually left his wife for a 21-year-old Russian woman named Yelena Jarikova. After an angry Jocelyn allegedly discovered the two in bed together, she had Art arrested.

This would cause the once cordial divorce process to turn ugly.

“My husband apparently has no use for me anymore,” Jocelyn allegedly stated in the court documents, “he would rather waste our assets on his girlfriend.”

The contentious divorce proceedings lasted two years and ended with Ms. Wildenstein walking away with a $2.5 billion settlement.

Two years later she met Lloyd.

“Jocelyn is a wonderful woman,” he told the media in 2016, adding, “She is extremely sophisticated and a woman of great taste.”

Although the public viewed her as a rich diva, Klein would betray In 2023, his partner used her wealth to help others by creating water sources in Africa and opening several animal care clinics on the continent.

“She’s known for plastic surgery,” he noted, “but I don’t know if she should be known for it because she’s done a lot of incredible things in her life. Big, big, big achievements.”

While she was never afraid to go under the knife, Wildenstein, who compared her face to that of a lynx rather than an ordinary cat, claimed that her memorable features were an extension of those she already possessed.

“If I show you pictures of my grandmother, you’ll see those eyes—cat eyes—and high cheekbones,” she once said.

Wildenstein is survived by Klein and her two children, Diane and Alec Jr., from her previous marriage.