Duchess of York's legal dispute

Apr 9, 2010, 12:14 GMT

Britain's Duchess of York is facing legal action over an unpaid bill of up to £100,000.

The duchess, Sarah Ferguson, has been subject to the action from law firm Davenport Lyons, which has issued proceedings at the High Court in London against her over unpaid fees for work on a deal to turn her Little Red children's books into an animated television series.

Davenport Lyons has a specialist media department which deals with the legal side of television and films, from merchandising to copyright issues and was brokering a deal on Sarah's behalf with film company HandMade Films, which wanted to buy the rights to Sarah's books in the US and Canada, where they have proved a huge hit.

However, the deal collapsed after HandMade ran into financial uncertainties, leaving Sarah with the bill from Davenport Lyons, which is thought to be worth up to £100,000.

Sarah's Little Red picture book, 'Tea For Ruby', about a little girl learning her manners in time for tea with the queen, reached the bestseller list in the US last year.

The duchess has not reportedly received the formal notification of the legal proceedings and is expected to content them.

Both the duchess' spokeswoman and Davenport Lyons declined to comment on the matter.