Is Paris set to lose Hilton fortune?

Is 'hotel heiress' Paris Hilton set to lose out on her potential fortune because of her party antics? On Christmas Day Paris's grandfather, Barron Hilton, announced that he plans to donate 97 per cent of his $2.3bn (£1.2bn) fortune to charity, leaving open the question of how his decision will affect his granddaughter and the rest of his heirs.

The 80-year-old hotelier, who was named as one of the 400 richest Americans in 2007 by Forbes magazine, will donate the bulk of his fortune to the Conrad N Hilton Foundation - named after his father who founded the hotel chain in 1919 - with an immediate pledge of $1.2 bn. The money is to come from the sale of Hilton Hotels Corp and the pending sale of Harrah's Entertainment, the world's biggest casino company. The remaining $1bn will follow after Barron Hilton's death - bringing the value of the foundation, which supports projects in Africa, education for blind children and housing for the mentally ill, to about $4.5bn.

Hilton's decision may be seen, in part, as reaction to his granddaughter Paris Hilton's lifestyle. Biographer Jerry Oppenheimer, who profiled the family in his 2006 book House of Hilton, has said Barron Hilton is embarrassed by the behavior of his socialite granddaughter Paris and believes it has sullied the family name. Paris spent three weeks in jail this summer over charges relating to drunk driving and earned international notoriety for an internet sex video.

But Matthew Miller, an editor of Forbes' 'rich list', says the change was unlikely to crimp the 26-year-old's style. "She is a celebrity in her own right," he told the Times. Forbes estimates she earned $7m (£3.5m) last year from The Simple Life TV show, her perfume line, mobile phone games and appearances.