In the same way she spent most of her life, Huguette Clark was buried in solitude.
At the ceremony today at the family mausoleum in New York's Bronx district, the only people present were funeral home employees.
Her relatives were barred from attending by Ms Clark's lawyer Wallace 'Wally' Bock who, along withClark's accountant, is under investigation by the Manhattan district attorney, who is looking into the handling of her copper mining fortune, estimated at $500 million.
According to msnbc, family members had enquired about a funeral or burial arrangements but were promptly dismissed by Bock, who wrote in an email: 'It was Ms Clark's specific wishes and instructions that no funeral service or mass be held. We expect interment to take place immediately.'
Her casket was carried up 18 steps to the Clark family tomb where she was placed beside her beloved sister Andrée, who died aged 16 of meningitis. A single bouquet of daisies was placed by the door.
Her mother and father have also been laid to rest there.
Changes had to be made to the family tomb in 2008 in order to accommodate Ms Clark and, although the relatives had cooperated with her in recent years to make the changes, Bock then cut off all family - about the same time she made a new will.
Though she had no children from her brief marriage, she had many half relatives from the first marriage of her father - mining tycoon and U.S. senator William Andrews Clark, who died in 1925.
She spent the last 20 years of her life in New York hospitals, despite being in relatively good health, surrounded only by private nurses. Bock and her accountant, registered sex offender Irving Kamsler, were the only people who had access to her, which Bock insists was at her request.
A will has not yet been filed and it is still unclear what will happen to her vast $500million estate.
She also owns lavish mansions in California and Connecticut which have been vacant for more than 50 years.
A criminal investigation continues with a Manhattan district attorney probing claims from Ms Clark's family who say she may not have understood decisions relating to her fortune.
An assistant district attorney was able to visit with her in hospital more than once and speak to her in both French and English.
A state grand jury in Manhattan issued subpoenas for documents but it could be months before the investigation's conculsion is known.
In an affidavit filed in court last year, Bock said: 'Ms Clark has always been a strong-willed individual with firm convictions about how her life should be led and who should be privy to her affairs.'
A will could be contested, leading to a court battle over her estate. If a court invalidated the will, Clark's estate would flow under state law to her nearest relatives, the dozen or so direct descendants from her father's first marriage.
Miss Clark, who was born in Paris in 1906, became the subject of public fascination and an investigation after a century of life as a recluse. The last photograph was taken of her more than 80 years ago.
She was married in 1928, at 22, to William Gower, a law student and Clark family employee. The couple soon separated, had no children, and divorced in less than two years, in the summer of 1930.
When Senator Clark died, his millions were divided equally between his children from both his marriages. When Huguette turned 21, she received $300million or $3.6billion in today's money.
She would have been 105 years old on June 9.
She spent her time in hospital almost entirely alone aside from a few private nurses. One of her attorneys had even represented her for 20 years without meeting her face-to-face, instead talking through a door.
At the ceremony today at the family mausoleum in New York's Bronx district, the only people present were funeral home employees.
Her relatives were barred from attending by Ms Clark's lawyer Wallace 'Wally' Bock who, along withClark's accountant, is under investigation by the Manhattan district attorney, who is looking into the handling of her copper mining fortune, estimated at $500 million.
According to msnbc, family members had enquired about a funeral or burial arrangements but were promptly dismissed by Bock, who wrote in an email: 'It was Ms Clark's specific wishes and instructions that no funeral service or mass be held. We expect interment to take place immediately.'
Her casket was carried up 18 steps to the Clark family tomb where she was placed beside her beloved sister Andrée, who died aged 16 of meningitis. A single bouquet of daisies was placed by the door.
Her mother and father have also been laid to rest there.
Changes had to be made to the family tomb in 2008 in order to accommodate Ms Clark and, although the relatives had cooperated with her in recent years to make the changes, Bock then cut off all family - about the same time she made a new will.
Though she had no children from her brief marriage, she had many half relatives from the first marriage of her father - mining tycoon and U.S. senator William Andrews Clark, who died in 1925.
She spent the last 20 years of her life in New York hospitals, despite being in relatively good health, surrounded only by private nurses. Bock and her accountant, registered sex offender Irving Kamsler, were the only people who had access to her, which Bock insists was at her request.
A will has not yet been filed and it is still unclear what will happen to her vast $500million estate.
She also owns lavish mansions in California and Connecticut which have been vacant for more than 50 years.
A criminal investigation continues with a Manhattan district attorney probing claims from Ms Clark's family who say she may not have understood decisions relating to her fortune.
An assistant district attorney was able to visit with her in hospital more than once and speak to her in both French and English.
A state grand jury in Manhattan issued subpoenas for documents but it could be months before the investigation's conculsion is known.
In an affidavit filed in court last year, Bock said: 'Ms Clark has always been a strong-willed individual with firm convictions about how her life should be led and who should be privy to her affairs.'
Miss Clark, who was born in Paris in 1906, became the subject of public fascination and an investigation after a century of life as a recluse. The last photograph was taken of her more than 80 years ago.
She was married in 1928, at 22, to William Gower, a law student and Clark family employee. The couple soon separated, had no children, and divorced in less than two years, in the summer of 1930.
When Senator Clark died, his millions were divided equally between his children from both his marriages. When Huguette turned 21, she received $300million or $3.6billion in today's money.
She would have been 105 years old on June 9.
She spent her time in hospital almost entirely alone aside from a few private nurses. One of her attorneys had even represented her for 20 years without meeting her face-to-face, instead talking through a door.
