The extraordinary family battle for control of New Orleans Saints and a $2 billion fortune

The three Rs, as they were known in business, were long ago anointed by Mr Benson as his successors, with Rita LeBlanc taking on the highest profile as he promoted her to co-owner of the Saints.

But it was also no secret within the hierarchy of the Saints, the winners of the 2010 Superbowl, that there was a growing animosity between Mrs Benson 67, a former interior decorator, and Ms LeBlanc, 38, once considered her grand-fathers favourite .

That hostility was well-known to insiders but a revelation this month to fans accustomed to seeing the two women photographed on either arm of Mr Benson at Saints and Pelicans games.

It wasnt just to gender-balance the portraits, wrote Jeff Duncan, a Times-Picayune correspondent who has covered the family drama. The two women cant stand each other.

In a war largely waged through anonymous briefings to local media, confidantes of Mr Benson have portrayed Ms LeBlanc as unreliable and abrasive, with a tendency to berate staff. Allies of three Rs have in turn depicted Mr Bensons third wife as a profligate and domineering gold-digger.

What does not appear in dispute is that Mr Bensons daughter from his first marriage and her children have never warmed to Mrs Benson, whom the two-time widower married in 2004. She has in recent years turned her husband into a prolific philanthropist, who has donated tens of millions of dollars to good causes, notably educational, in his native New Orleans and to sporting charities.

Lawyers for his ousted heirs have filed explosive court challenges seeking to throw out his decision to hand his wife ownership of the two sports franchises worth an estimated $1.76 billion and his banking, car dealership and ranching interests.

In filings this week, they alleged that Mr Benson has exhibited a pattern of bizarre behaviour and asked a court to order him he undergo an examination by a geriatric psychiatrist as they claim he is unable to make his own business decisions.

They cited the Dec 27 letter barring them from contact in their case, arguing that they did not believe it was written by the tycoon. His family also cited a recent episode when Mr Benson reportedly could not name the current US president, guessing first Ronald Reagan and then Harry Truman. Sources at the National Football League told the New Orleans Advocate that the confusion occurred after he was treated for concussion sustained when he fell from a podium.

Mr Benson and his lawyers have for their part asked a judge to dismiss the case, contending that they had no legal basis to challenge his wishes. They noted that the jilted heirs are still beneficiaries of various trust interests that Mr Benson has established for them, and they will continue to enjoy the hundreds of millions of dollars they have been given.

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The extraordinary family battle for control of New Orleans Saints and a $2 billion fortune