COLLEEN MCCULLOUGH THE UNTOLD INTERVIEW
THE TRUTH BEHIND THE SEX, LIES, AND HER MILLIONDOLLAR ESTATE
Just months before she died, bestselling author Colleen Mccullough – famed for her novel The Thorn Birds – did one final interview speaking of her deep love for husband of 30 years, Ric Robinson.
‘I’m one of the lucky ones,’ Colleen confessed to New Idea, of her relationship with Ric – 13 years her junior.
‘We still love each other, more now than we ever did.
‘I was 46 when I married. He’s a beautiful man. It’s very nice to be with someone you love,’ she added, from their home on Norfolk Island.
Sadly, Colleen died of renal failure on January 29, 2015, aged 77, after suffering a series of small strokes.
Now fans have been shocked by ugly allegations about the relationship between Colleen and Ric, aired during a sensational legal battle over her millions taking place in the NSW Supreme Court.
Revelations of adultery, lies and fakery – with one lawyer tearfully admitting she fabricated a document to trick Ric – have gripped her followers.
With its dramatic twists and turns rivalling that of her bestselling novels, ‘this ugly court case would have Colleen turning in her grave,’ a family friend tells New Idea.
‘It’s all quite shocking. Colleen would be mortified that all this about her private life with Ric was being aired.’
The case centres around a dispute over who should inherit Colleen’s fortune – Ric or an American university where she once held a position on a board. Ric, 65, who was also Colleen’s carer when she was unwell, argues the money is rightfully his and that the will Colleen made 12 days before she died – leaving everything to him – should be honoured. But Colleen’s executor, literary agent-to-the-stars Selwa Anthony, claims the bestselling writer wanted her estate to go to the University of Oklahoma and that her relationship with Ric, who was unfaithful to Colleen, had deteriorated. Selwa, whose clients include Di Morrissey, Tara
Moss and Susie Elelman, argues that a will made by Colleen in July 2014 leaving her funds to the US university reflects the author’s true wishes.
She says Ric took advantage of Colleen’s frailty in order to get the will changed to benefit him shortly before her death.
Selwa told the court that in July 2014, Colleen had told her she’d ‘kicked Ric out for good’ because he had ‘taken a mistress’ and ‘spent all the money’.
Though the pair reunited weeks later, Colleen had told her: ‘Ric is back because I can’t afford the night carer and he needs the money.’
Ric agreed in court that he had an affair and said he’d told Colleen about this in 2010: ‘The island is too small to keep any secrets.
‘It was her suggestion in the first place that I take a friend.’
He denied that he’d shouted at Colleen and raised his hand at her during a brief split in June 2014. ‘The only time I raised my voice to Col was when she forgot to put her hearing aids in,’ he told the court.
When asked by lawyer Kim Morrissey if Colleen feared him, he replied: ‘Never... it is so unbelievable. I have never threatened or hurt her.’
Ric said he later returned to Colleen and resumed being her carer, for which he was paid. And though their relationship ‘wasn’t in the best of states’, it had settled by the time she died.
Adding to the drama in court came the tearful admission by lawyer Piria Coleman, employed by the author to draft her 2014 will, that she’d faked a document to trick Ric into believing Colleen’s estate was his. Piria alleges she’d inserted extra pages for Ric to read, to give him the false impression.
‘I don’t think you can make this stuff up,’ a friend of the author’s tells New Idea. ‘Colleen was a dignified woman. I’ve met her and Ric many times and I liked them both. Obviously Colleen was the one who had all the money, but that was the score and both were fine about that. I also believe Selwa has Colleen’s best interests at heart.
‘I hope this shocking case ends soon. I would hate in future years for people to google Colleen’s name and just see references to this ugliness.’
The case continues before Justice Nigel Rein in the Supreme Court.