Socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein’s Cause Of Death Revealed

The iconic headline-making figure, known for her extensive facial surgeries which gave her cat-like features, passed away in her sleep on New Year’s Eve at age 84.

According to her long-term partner, Lloyd Klein, Wildenstein had been prepping to ring in 2025 and appeared to be in “perfect” health just days before.

Just a day after Wildenstein’s sudden passing, Klein gave insight into how his lover’s final hours played out.

“We had a nice happy hour the same night,” the noted fashion designer shared, “and we were getting ready for the new year, and we took a little nap just to look good before getting dressed.”

Klein says he awoke first, then tried to jostle Wildenstein awake to no avail.

“I said, ‘Jocelyn, we have to wake up, we have to get dressed,’” he recollects, “and she was cold and she was dead.”

Making the matter all the more heartbreaking was, according to Klein, Wildenstein being in “perfect” health just days before.

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

“Before that, we had come for Fashion Week at Chanel. Everything was good, everything was good.”

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

Wildenstein’s grandmother was said to have also suffered from the condition.

Klein claimed that his partner’s legs were greatly affected by the diagnosis, which caused them to swell and create a blockage via a pulmonary embolism.

“Because of her phlebitis, [her] legs were very, very swollen,” he told PEOPLE, “and the blood was blocked, and there was no oxygen in the brain.”

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

“It’s extremely sad to lay down with your other half that [I’ve known] for 21 years, waiting to celebrate New Year’s Eve, and [instead] find her cold,” he said.

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

In a 1998 expose in Vanity Fair, Art, who eloped with Jocelyn in a 1978 Vegas wedding, claimed he tried to get her to see reason and accept her natural looks.

“She was thinking that she could fix her face like a piece of furniture. Skin does not work that way,” he expressed, “but she wouldn’t listen.”

During their marriage, Wildenstein underwent multiple facelifts and facial reconstruction surgeries, which led to her infamous feline-like visage, consisting of arched eyes and somewhat 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 a wrathful Jocelyn allegedly discovered the two in bed together, she had Art arrested.

This would cause the once-cordial divorce proceedings to get ugly.

“My husband seemingly has no more use for me,” Jocelyn purportedly stated in court documents, “preferring to lavish our fortune on his girlfriend.”

The contentious divorce proceedings would last two years, culminating with Ms. Wildenstein walking away with a $2.5 billion settlement.

Two years after this, she would meet Lloyd.

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

Though the public viewed her as a rich diva, Klein would reveal in 2023 that his partner used her riches to help others by creating water sources in Africa, and opening several clinics in the continent for animal care.

“She’s known for plastic surgery,” he noted, “but I don’t know that this is what she should be known for because she did a lot of incredible things in her life. Major, major, major achievements.”

While she never shied away from going under the knife, Wildenstein, who compared her face to that of a lynx and not a common cat, claimed that her memorable features were enhancements on ones she already possessed.

“If I show you pictures of my grandmother, what [you’ll] see is these eyes — cat eyes — and high cheekbones,” she once stated.

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