Former Met Director Has Alzheimer’s : Fortune Frozen, Bing Living on Charity

Sir Rudolf Bing, former director of the New York Metropolitan Opera, and his 47-year-old bride settled into a modest guest house today to live on charity while a court fight over his $1-million fortune rages in the United States, a spokesman said.

His wife, Carroll, a former geriatric nurse, said she and Bing, 85, intend to live “a peaceful and quiet life” in England despite orders by a New York judge that Bing return for a hearing to determine the future of his estate.

The two were married in January but have been officially declared incapable of handling their affairs--including his fortune estimated at about $1 million.

At the request of his family before the recent marriage, Bing’s assets were frozen after a medical diagnosis in the United States showed he is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, a degenerative brain condition.

While court-appointed attorneys in New York sought to annul the marriage, the Bings arrived in Britain to spend five nights in a three-star hotel--and drew police attention when they left without paying a $560 bill.

Attorney Graham Platt said police had been assured the hotel bill would be paid. The Bings have moved into a guest house outside the Midlands city of Leeds “where they are well looked after,” he said.

A British musicians’ charity will foot the bill for their expenses while the court fight goes on in the United States, he said.

Platt said Bing “is cheerful and I had an interesting chat with him. . . . We walked around the garden and he enjoyed himself and he seemed happy and contented.”

Lady Bing, herself married twice previously, said earlier that “I was told the British people would respect my husband and that while he was here they would be kind to him. I feel they are ripping him apart like sharks in New York.”