As Russian writer Leo Tolstoy declared in the opening lines of his novel Anna Karenina: "Happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

That statement, written in the 19th century, seems to ring true for these modern celebrity families who have played out their bitter spats in the public eye.

From wrangling over inheritance to filing restraining orders to selling family secrets to voracious tabloids, The Sunday Times digs into some of the ugliest celebrity family feuds.

Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle

Meghan Markle's relationship with her father, Thomas Markle Sr, and half-siblings, Samantha and Thomas Jr, has been a royal pain.

Days before the 39-year-old former American actress' marriage to Prince Harry (above, with Markle) in 2018, it was revealed that her father, in cahoots with a photographer, had staged photos of himself preparing for her wedding and sold them to the paparazzi for a king's ransom of £100,000.

Mr Markle, 76, then backed out of walking his daughter down the aisle and skipped the wedding for gossip sessions and dishy interviews with British tabloids.

Her half-siblings have also joined in the diatribe against the Duchess of Sussex, including name-calling as well as predicting the royal couple's divorce.

In late March, Mr Markle told The Mirror he disapproves of the couple moving to Los Angeles and said they should support the royal family during the pandemic.

Prince Charles tested positive for Covid-19 in March and was in self-isolation. The entire royal family was also in self-quarantine.

Since then, Markle's family has periodically weighed in on her moves, including, most recently, slamming her decision to leave royal life behind.

K-pop singer Goo Hara

Last November, at the age of 28, K-pop singer Goo Hara took her own life in her home in Seoul.

Two days after her funeral, her elder brother, Mr Goo Ho In, was contacted regarding his sister's estate.

The siblings were abandoned by their divorced parents when Goo Hara was nine and her brother was 11. Their mother walked out on the family and because their father had to work, they were cared for by relatives.

After the star's death, their mother instructed her lawyer to seek 50 per cent of her estate. Mr Goo and his mother are now embroiled in a legal dispute, while his father has given his 50 per cent share to him.

According to South Korea's Civil Act, parents are entitled to their deceased child's assets, even if they failed to fulfil their parental duties. The only exceptions are special circumstances such as murder or the fabrication of a will.

Mr Goo also started a petition for a Goo Hara Act, which aims to widen the special circumstances to include "negligence of one's duties to protect or support their direct descendants".

He submitted the petition to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly after getting 100,000 signatures from Korean citizens within 30 days.

In an Instagram post in March, he said: "I'm well aware that even if the Goo Hara Act passes, it will not apply to my family's issue."

But, he adds: "I'm writing this in the hope that the name Goo Hara will be remembered as a name that transforms our society into one that is better and more just."

The Act failed to pass when South Korea's 20th National Assembly declared it needed "further review". It will be relooked by the 21st Legislation and Judiciary Committee in its upcoming meetings.

On broadcaster JTBC's Spotlight programme last month, Goo Hara's mother defended her actions, noting she had her "own circumstances" that prevented her from raising her children.

On the lawsuit, she said: "I don't even know now how it worked out. I don't know anything. I don't even know what the amount of money is. Don't keep asking questions. This is hard."

Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, rapper Aaron Carter

There has always been bad blood in the Carter family - between older brother and Backstreet Boy Nick, rapper Aaron and the latter's twin sister Angel.

The animosity first came to public attention in 2006, when Nick (above, with his children Saoirse and Odin) and Aaron got into a heated argument, which then turned physical, in reality show House Of Carters (2006).

After that, family took a backseat for Nick. The 40-year-old did not attend sister Leslie's funeral in 2012 and Angel's wedding in 2014.

Aaron, 32, made cutting remarks about his brother on social media and to the press.

Things took a turn for the worse last year. Nick tweeted on Sept 18 that he and Angel were seeking a restraining order against Aaron - after he threatened to kill Nick's wife, Lauren Kitt, and their unborn child, as well as Angel's family.

Nick wrote: "(We) were left with no choice but to take every measure possible to protect ourselves and our family."

Aaron responded on Twitter: "I have never had thoughts of causing anyone pain, let alone taking anyone's life. It was hurtful for me to read those things because if these people really knew me, they would have never used that as a tactic to control me."

His siblings got their restraining order, which is effective until November this year.

Japanese model Anne Watanabe

Japanese model Anne Watanabe has been at the centre of a family drama on three fronts.

On Aug 1, the 34-year-old, who is also known by the mononym Anne, was reported to have divorced her husband, actor Masahiro Higashide (above, with Watanabe), after he was found to be having an affair.

The couple, who were married for five years, were one of Japan's most famous celebrity couples. They have three children - four-year-old twin daughters and a two-year-old son.

News of the 32-year-old Higashide's infidelity broke in January, when he was revealed to be having an affair with actress Erika Karata, 22. While both parties apologised, public anger was not quelled.

They had allegedly started their affair on the set of Asako I & II (2018), when Watanabe was pregnant with their son. She and Higashide have promised to work together to take care of their children.

The model's family woes do not end there. The daughter of veteran actor Ken Watanabe and his first wife Yumiko Watanabe was sued by her mother recently for 1.2 billion yen (S$15 million).

The lawsuit arose because Anne Watanabe transferred from her mother's entertainment company, T Agency, to another agency, Topcoat.

She has also had a famously frigid relationship with her 60-year-old father, who, in 2018, split from his second wife Kaho Minami after he, too, had an affair.

Former television host Chang Fei and singer Fei Yu-ching

Chang Fei, the former host of Taiwanese television programme Variety Big Brother, and his youngest brother, veteran singer Fei Yu-ching have "had enough".

Chang, in a interview with Apple Daily Taiwan in March, said he and his brother have forked out NT$200 million (S$9.5 million) to settle their sister's debts over three decades.

Their sister, Hengshu, who quit her singing career to become a Buddhist nun, is deep in debt to loan sharks.

Chang, 68, said she first chalked up the debts due to her outrageous generosity of treating her religious followers to all-expenses-paid trips. The debts later piled up because of her side hustle in the jewellery trade.

Chang said his sister "has to start dealing with this herself" and has considered the possibility of "cutting ties if need be". He added that she should quit being a nun if she cannot let go of material possessions.

Singer-songwriter Britney Spears

Singer-songwriter Britney Spears and her father James Spears have crossed swords on many occasions.

In 2008, after the pop star had several public mental breakdowns, Mr Spears was appointed as his daughter's conservator, which gave him the right to manage her financial affairs and daily life.

In September last year, he temporarily stepped down from that role, citing health reasons.

This came a month after the 38-year-old singer's ex-husband, Kevin Federline, filed a police report alleging that her father had physically abused their 14-year-old son, Sean Preston Federline.

Mr Spears has regained his role as conservator and no child abuse charges have been filed against him.

But People.com reported that father and daughter have not been able to bury the hatchet and are engaged in a cold war. Sean and his 13-year-old brother, Jayden James, have also been granted a restraining order against their grandfather.

Recently, the issue of the conservatorship and the #FreeBritney movement have resurfaced on social media.

Actor Jackie Chan, Elaine Ng and Etta Ng

Unlike in his movies, Jackie Chan's fraught family situation cannot be as easily solved with a quip and a kick.

Chan, 66, and Taiwanese actress Joan Lin married in 1982 and had a son, Jaycee, the same year. In 1999, he had an affair with former beauty queen Elaine Ng and they had a daughter Etta that year.

Mother and daughter remain estranged from Chan, who omitted any mention of Etta, now 20, in his 2015 memoir, Never Grow Up.

But Ng, 46, and her daughter also have a tumultuous relationship. In November 2018, Etta married her girlfriend, Canadian influencer Andi Autumn, who is 12 years her senior.

Rumours quickly spread of the couple being homeless and unemployed in Canada, and they soon returned to Hong Kong to seek help from Etta's mother.

But Ng believes Autumn to be a bad influence and does not approve of her. She has also said of Etta: "This daughter is not mine."

In July last year, it was reported that Etta and Andi had deleted each other's photos on their respective Instagram accounts, sparking rumours that their marriage was on the rocks.

Etta refuted the rumours, saying: "I don't need social media for the time being because I'm really busy working. I need to make money."

Last month, Ng hit back at Chan following his claim that he had given her a sum of money after their daughter's birth.