R.I.P. Trouble, Helmsley’s millionaire pooch

Trouble, the well-dressed Maltese that was bequeathed $12 million by “Queen of Mean” real estate mogul Leona Helmsley in 2007, has died, according to the Daily News. She was 12, or 84 in dog years. Trouble was one of the world’s richest dogs, even after a judge later decided to knock $10 million off the inheritance Helmsley had left to her. True New Yorker that she was, Trouble used the money to retire to Florida, where she was looked after by Carl Lekic, general manager of Sarasota’s Helmsley Sandcastle hotel. Lekic helped her get by on $100,000 per year at the hotel, which covered $8,000 for grooming, $1,200 for food, and the remainder for Lekic’s salary and for a full-time security guard, deemed necessary after the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust received between 20 and 30 death and kidnapping threats against the pampered pooch. Though Helmsley had requested that Trouble be laid to rest beside her in the 12,000-square-foot Helmsley family mausoleum in Westchester, that was against Sleepy Hollow Cemetery rules, so Trouble was cremated instead. What’s leftover from Trouble’s estate has been reverted to the trust, a spokesperson said. [NYDN]