Larry King cut wife Shawn Southwick King from his will after he filed for divorce. Video / Sky News
Larry King's primary cause of death was sepsis, his death certificate confirms.
The iconic TV host passed away at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles on January 23, at the age of 87, after contracting coronavirus.
And after his estranged wife, Shawn King, insisted the legendary broadcaster had "beat" the virus but couldn't overcome an infection, People has obtained Larry's death certificate, which states that he suffered from underlying health conditions, acute hypoxic respiratory failure and kidney failure, which led to sepsis.
After his passing, Shawn had said: "It was an infection, it was sepsis. Well, he was finally ready to go, I will tell you that.
"You know, he never wanted to go but his sweet little body was just, it had just been hit so many times with so many things and once we heard the word Covid, all of our hearts just sunk.
"But he beat it, you know, he beat it, but it did take its toll and then the unrelated infection finally is what took him, but boy, he was not gonna go down easily."
Shawn was thankful that she was able to speak with Larry - the father of her sons Chance, 21, and Cannon, 20 - via video call before he passed away and explained how the presenter was keen to tell his family, which also includes his eldest child Larry Jr from a previous marriage, that he loved them.
She said: "We were able to do FaceTime in the hospital and it was hard for him to talk, but the one message that he wanted to make sure I heard was, 'I love you, take care of the boys'."
While Larry had filed for divorce from Shawn in August 2019 - nine years after they originally split before reconciling - she insisted they were still "partners" to the end.
In this 1999 file photo, Donald Trump, right, is interviewed by Larry King during a taping of 'Larry King Live' in New York. Photo / AP
Larry had two other children, Andy and Chaia, but they tragically passed away weeks apart last summer aged 65 and 51 respectively.
And he left his $3.83 million (US$.77m) estate to his children.
His handwritten will emerged this week, which is dated October, 17, 2019, two months after he filed for divorce from seventh wife Shawn and less than a year before Andy and Chaia died.
The document requested all of Larry's estate be divided equally among his offspring.
According to People, it read: "This is my Last Will and Testament.
"It should replace all previous writings. In the event of my death, any day after the above date I want 100 per cent (written above illegible crossed-out words) of my funds to be divided equally among my children Andy, Chaia, Larry Jr, Chance & Cannon."
Larry Jr requested to be appointed administrator of his father's estate, noting his dad was going through a divorce from the mother of his half-siblings at the time of his death.
