The beautician who often visited the 'Avengers' actress amid her cancer battle refuses to receive the money left by the late star and opts to donate it to the actress' grandson.
- November 3, 2021
AceShowbiz - A beautician who was left $6,800 (£5,000) by Diana Rigg is to donate the money to the late actress' grandson.
Jessica Zhu became close friends with Diana, most famous for playing Emma Peel in "The Avengers", after she started doing her nails back in 2001. She had no idea of her celebrity status until another customer pointed it out and, after Rigg was diagnosed with cancer in March 2020, she visited her every other day until her death in September that year.
When Diana passed away, aged 82, Zhu had no idea that she'd been left a lump sum by the actress. But instead of keeping it herself, she decided to give it to the late star's four-year-old grandson Jack Stirling Garvey - son of Diana's actress daughter Rachel Stirling and Elbow singer Guy Garvey.
"I told Diana's daughter that the money should go to her grandson because I did what I did out of love. We had a very special relationship," she told Britain's Daily Mail newspaper.
"I was very fortunate that Diana wanted to say goodbye to me when she was ill and in hospital in March. I was with her until her last minute of life because I wanted to be with her. We had the same old chats that we were having in the salon. I was very sad when she passed away - she always told me not to be upset when she was dying."
"I didn't realise Diana left £5,000 for me because I was with her out of love and kindness and told her I did not want anything from her."
According to legal documents obtained by the Daily Mail, Rigg left around $4.09 million (£3 million) of her $4.6 million (£3.4 million) estate to Stirling, and donated $382,700 (£280,500) to other relatives and charities.
