The prison pen pal turned third wife of late Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards has gone to war with his adult children - who are all more than two decades older than her - after she allegedly had his remains exhumed and cremated without telling them.
Trina Edwards, 43, had her husband's corpse dug up from a cemetery in Baton Rouge just 10 weeks after he was laid to rest, following his death aged 93 back in July.
His ashes currently sit on a nightstand in the home she shared with Edwards in Gonzalez while she decides on a final resting place.
The move has drawn the ire of the Democratic governor's three eldest children - Anna, Stephen and Victoria - who claim the widow ignored their father's wishes and that the reality star is trying to claw back her '15 minutes of fame.'
Edwards, a four-term governor who served eight years in prison for corruption, was married three times and has five children.
The prison pen pal turned third wife of late Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards has gone to war with his adult children after she allegedly had his remains exhumed and cremated without telling them. Trina Edwards with Edwin Edwards on their 2011 wedding day
Edwards' adult children Anna (right), Stephen and Victoria (left) have blasted the widow claiming she ignored their father's wishes not to be cremated and froze them out
His four eldest children - Anna, Victoria, Stephen and David - are from his first marriage to Elaine Edwards. The couple - who met in high school and were married for 40 years - divorced in 1989 and she died in 2018.
Edwards then wed Candy Picou in 1994 but she divorced him following his racketeering trial and conviction.
It was while Edwards was behind bars that he struck up a relationship with Trina Grimes Scott who - at 51 years his junior - began writing to him in jail.
On his release, the couple wed and welcomed a son Eli, who is now eight, using sperm the governor froze a decade earlier. They also starred in a reality TV series called The Governor's Wife.
But, David is the only child from her late husband's first marriage who she still speaks to regularly following his death and - after she cremated Edwards' remains - her relationship with his kids appears to have soured further.
Anna, Stephen and Victoria have spoken out this week in an interview with The Advocate to condemn her decision to cremate their dad without their knowledge as they claim he 'hated' the thought of being laid to rest that way.
Stephen said cremation went against his father's religious beliefs - something he made clear long before his death.
'He was one of the large group of Christians who believed that if you're in this world and are cremated, your soul cannot go to heaven,' he said.
'He made that well known to all of us and his friends.'
Instead, Edwards had told him he wished to be laid to rest at the Port Hudson National Cemetery, after he served as a pilot in the Navy in World War II, said Stephen.
Edwards was in prison for corruption when he struck up a relationship with Trina Grimes Scott. On his release, the couple wed and welcomed a son Eli. The couple above
The couple then went on to star in a reality TV series called The Governor's Wife (above)
Victoria added that cremation 'is one of the things my father swore he never wanted. He hated that idea.'
What made matters worse, they said, was that Trina did not consult with his adult children before barreling ahead with her plans.
Anna revealed she was 'astonished and horrified' when she learned about her father's remains being dug up and cremated in a text message.
'I was beyond shocked,' she said.
'I can remember many conversations with my dad over the years about death and burial. He did not like the idea of being cremated.
'He thought it was abominable. He was horrified that I want to be cremated.'
Victoria also suggested her stepmom may have been motivated by her pursuit of fame.
'She has lost her 15 minutes of fame and desperately wants to get it back,' she said.
While the siblings agreed that their stepmother took good care of their father in his last years, they claimed she began freezing them out as soon as he passed away from respiratory complications on July 12.
Trina slammed her late husband's children, denying that she cremated him without telling them on a radio show this week (above)
The widow first spoke out about the family rift on Facebook on October 3, writing a lengthy post where she pushed back at any allegations she cremated him to destroy evidence
Stephen said Trina didn't allocate them seats at his funeral service, leaving him forced to find the first available seat at the back.
However, Trina has slammed her late husband's children for airing their dirty laundry in public, claiming they barely saw their father in his final years and that they didn't know their father's wishes for his burial.
Trina told The Advocate that his family knew all along that his burial was temporary.
'They knew when I buried him there. Everyone knew that it was temporary, so I'm honestly just I totally don't understand what the problem is or why they're being like this,' she said.
Trina claimed she then reached out to David about her plans to exhume and cremate his remains and was told that nobody was opposed to the idea.
She also insisted she took his adult kids 'into consideration with every plan' for his
