Italy:Italy's uncrowned royal family, the Agnellis of Turin, appears on the point of doing the unthinkable - washing the family's dirty linen in public.
The reserved Agnelli family, majority shareholders in automobile giant Fiat, find themselves in an unwelcome public feud.
This follows the decision of Margherita Agnelli - daughter of the late Gianni Agnelli, who died in January 2003 - to sue her father's most trusted advisers in order to have a more complete picture of her late father's estate.
She is suing Franzo Grande Stevens, the family's chief legal adviser; Gianluigi Gabetti, a prominent figure in the family holding companies, Ifil and Ifi; as well as Switzerland-based lawyer, Sigfrid Maron, who manages private family assets.
In a statement, her lawyer, Girolamo Abbatescianni, said: "The only purpose of the legal action is to obtain a complete and clear accounting of all of the wealth, subject to inheritance."
The 52-year-old Margherita Agnelli is the only surviving child of the charismatic Gianni Agnelli, fondly known to all Italians as "L'Avvocato" (the Lawyer) and the man who has been credited with keeping the carmaker afloat during turbulent times in the 1970s and 1980s.
Ms Agnelli's decision to sue her late father's advisers seems all the more enigmatic given that John Elkann, her son by a first marriage to writer and broadcaster Alain Elkann, was long ago earmarked as a future Fiat president by none other than his grandfather.
At the centre of the row may be a 2004 private deal which saw Gianni Agnelli's estate divided among 11 heirs including Margherita Agnelli, who also agreed to exit the family holding company.
At the time, Fiat Auto was struggling and seemed headed for collapse. Since then, under the guidance of talented Canadian-Italian Sergio Marchionne, the company has staged an astonishing revival.
In 2006 revenues reached $31.3 billion (€23.27 billion) while trading profits went from the red to the black - from a loss of $332 million to a $384 million profit.
It may well be that Margherita Agnelli feels her share of the family holding company was sold at an undervalued price.
As befits the best of dynastic dramas, John Elkann (31), the de facto head of the Agnelli family, took a very public, distant stance from his mother. He told reporters on the sidelines of this week's Bank of Italy agm: "I am very hurt as a son and surprised by this private matter which was resolved in 2004 with everyone's consent and agreement."