FRANCE’S richest woman, the cosmetics heiress Liliane Bettencourt, was ordered to be placed under the legal protection of relatives by a French court yesterday in the latest twist in a family drama worthy of television’s Dallas or Dynasty.

RECORDINGS of L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt’s conversations about political dealings and Swiss bank accounts may play a key role at a trial over whether the 87-year-old was manipulated into giving a friend about €1 billion in gifts.

A FRENCH family drama worthy of a soap opera landed in court yesterday, as the daughter of France’s richest women questioned whether her mother has lost her mind and frittered away a fortune on a man known for befriending high-society celebrities.