Two heirs to French fashion house Hermes have found themselves in the news lately. Most recently, Mathias Guerrand-Hermes apparently attacked a pilot on an Air France flight:
An heir to the French fashion house Hermes has been charged in federal court with attacking the captain of a jetliner en route to New York from Paris, grabbing the pilot's crotch and trying to punch him.
According to the charges, the man, Mathias Guerrand-Hermes, became so unruly aboard Air France Flight 008, which left Paris at 2:10 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, that it took three flight attendants and the captain to restrain him. He was handcuffed, shackled and tied to a seat in first class, officials said.
Mr. Guerrand-Hermes, a socialite and polo player who will turn 37 on Sunday, had taken a prescription aspirinlike drug, Propofan, and "quite a bit of alcohol" and started behaving strangely about three hours into the flight, according to a law enforcement official and a criminal complaint. He is charged with one count of interfering with flight crew members, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. But under federal sentencing guidelines, Mr. Guerrand-Hermes, if convicted, would face a maximum of six months in prison as long as he had no previous criminal history.
Meanwhile, brother Olaf was scolded by a judge who ordered him to pay alimony -- which he had claimed he was unable to afford:
A jet-setting heir to the billion-dollar Hermes luxury goods fortune was ordered by a judge yesterday to open up his fancy leather wallet to his ex-wife and their kids.
Olaf Guerrand-Hermes must pay Olga Rostropovich $300,000 a year and another $240,000 annually for their two children, said Manhattan Judge Emily Jane Goodman.
The judge scoffed at Hermes' contention he is out of work and unable to afford the payments, noting he lives "an extraordinarily lavish lifestyle" with his new girlfriend and their child in Paris and has vacationed in London, Morocco, Costa Rica, Switzerland and Hawaii. Hermes, a 39-year-old lawyer, was "hostile, arrogant and lacked credibility," the judge said.