Von Bulow avoids Sunny’s funeral

While Claus von Bulow has said that he is mourning his former wife Sunny (pictured), who he was accused of trying to murder, the 82-year-old Danish aristocrat has decided to stay away from her funeral. "It would not be appropriate," he tells the Daily Telegraph. "The reason is that I do not want to be controversial. I also do not want the media exposure which would inevitably occur if I were to go."

Sunny was found unconscious at her home in Rhode Island in 1980, and spent the next 28 years in a coma. Von Bulow was accused of attempting to murder her by insulin injection so that he could inherit £14 million and marry his then mistress, Alexandra Isles. At his first trial - the first to be televised in the United States - he was found guilty. But he was subsequently acquitted at a re-trial after taking on Alan Dershowitz as his lawyer.

Von Bulow's daughter, Cosima, confirmed that her father would not be attending the funeral, which will be held in New York State in the next few days, because he feared there would be unwelcome press attention. However, many suspect the real reason for Claus's no show is to avoid an encounter with Sunny's two children from an earlier marriage. They still believe he is guilty of trying to kill their mother.