L'Oreal peace treaty torn up as daughter goes to court Liliane Bettencourt and her daughter Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers Source: AFP THE family feud that racked the L'Oreal empire last year broke out again yesterday when it was revealed that the daughter of heiress Liliane Bettencourt has sought to have her placed under legal protection. Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers took action after a judge ruled in March that her mother, France's richest woman with a €14.5 billion ($20bn) fortune who wields considerable power and influence on L'Oreal's board, was no longer in full possession of her faculties. A lawsuit filed by Mrs Bettencourt-Meyers cites a €143 million investment in a business that produces reality TV programs and Japanese cartoons, as evidence of Mrs Bettencourt's frailty. Beatrice Weiss-Gout, Mrs Bettencourt-Meyer's lawyer, said that a "security cordon" had been placed around the 88-year-old widow, preventing her from seeing her daughter or grandchildren. "The privacy of Mrs Liliane Bettencourt is being taken over by her lawyers, doctors and service providers, leaving Mrs Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers and her children a place that is not only limited but controlled and regulated," the lawyer said. The latest chapter in a saga that was viewed by President Sarkozy as a national disaster comes six months after Mrs Bettencourt and her daughter signed an agreement to end to their dispute and drop a series of competing lawsuits. The reconciliation was hailed at the time by a Parisian elite relieved to see a veil drawn over a damaging scandal. Not only did the Bettencourt family quarrel lead to speculation that L'Oreal could fall under the control of Nestle, the Swiss food giant, it also embroiled Mr Sarkozy's government in controversy. Mrs Bettencourt's private conversations - secretly recorded by her butler and leaked to the press - suggested that she had escaped a tax investigation by making donations to the President's supporters. The Employment Minister Eric Woerth was forced to resign, although he denied any wrongdoing.