'A form of abuse': Why Sting wanted his kids to make their own way in the world
Sting still doesn't plan for his kids to inherit his fortune and thinks it would have been "a form of abuse" to have given his children unlimited financial support.
Sting thinks it would have been "a form of abuse" to have given his children unlimited financial support.
The 74-year-old singer - who has Joe, 49, daughter Fuschia, 44, with first wife Frances Tomelty and Mickey, 42, Jake, 40, Eliot , 35, and Giacomo, 30, with spouse Trudie Styler - has previously stated he has no intention of leaving his vast fortune to his kids, and he admitted that he still has that stance because he has always wanted them to make their own way in the world.
Asked on CBS News Sunday Morning if he still plans to not leave his rumoured $550 million fortune to his brood, he laughed, and explained his belief that telling kids they "don't have to work" is "a form of abuse that I hope I'm never guilty of."
He added: "All of my kids have been blessed with this extraordinary work ethic, whether it's the DNA of it or whether I've said to them, 'Guys, you've got to work. I'm spending our money. I'm paying for your education. You've got shoes on your feet. Go to work.'
"That's not cruel. I think that's there's there's a kindness there and a trust in them that they will make their own way. They're tough, my kids."
The Every Breath You Take hitmaker doesn't think his stance has upset his brood.
Asked if they ever complain, he said: "No, not to my face, they don't."
Back in 2014, the former Police frontman praised his children for "rarely" asking for financial support as he explained he didn't plan for them to inherit all his money.
He told the Mail on Sunday newspaper: "I certainly don’t want to leave them trust funds that are albatrosses round their necks.
"They have to work. All my kids know that and they rarely ask me for anything, which I really respect and appreciate."
Sting noted he would help his children if they "were in trouble".
But he added: "They have the work ethic that makes them want to succeed on their own merit."
And in 2020, the Roxanne singer - who was a teacher before finding fame - insisted living without support was an "adventure".
He told People magazine: "My kids are fiercely independent. They're not sitting there waiting for a handout at all, and I wouldn't want to rob them of that adventure in life: to make your own living.
"It's a wonderful and difficult thing to do. So I haven't promised them anything. I'll obviously help them if they're in trouble, but they're not waiting for a handout. They're too independent."
