Best-selling novelist Wilbur Smith has insisted he does not regret a much-publicised fallout with his children, adding: 'They're not part of me - they've got my sperm, that's all'.

The 82-year-old millionaire has previously admitted that success cost him a close relationship with his son Shaun, daughter Christian and the pair's half-brother Lawrence.

But he says he has no regrets and claims they are probably more upset by the estrangement than he is as it means they won't get any of his £100million fortune.

All three, he claimed, only wanted his money and had 'done nothing to win my respect'.

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Best-selling novelist Wilbur Smith has insisted he does not regret a much-publicised fallout with his children, adding: 'They're not part of me - they've got my sperm, that's all'. He is pictured with his fourth wife, Niso,43

The 82-year-old millionaire has previously admitted that success cost him a close relationship with his son Shaun, daughter Christian and the pair's half-brother Lawrence. All three, he claimed, only wanted his money

Smith now says he has no desire to see the trio and is instead focused on enjoying life with his fourth - and much younger - wife, Niso, 43.

In an interview with Caroline Scott at The Sunday Times, the novelist said: 'I don't see my kids, they are men and women in their fifties and sixties and they're not part of me.

'They've got my sperm, that's all. I can be hard. I don't want to be, but I don't like being hurt. They were important to me at one point, make no mistake — very important — but not now. It's sadder for them than it is for me, because they're not getting any more money.'

On his four marriages, Smith, a British resident who was born in Northern Rhodesia - now Zambia - but now lives in Kensington, West London, said: 'Two of them died on me, the first one hates me and this one loves me, so I've covered the whole spectrum.'

He married his first wife Jewell in 1964. They later divorced and he married Anne, with whom he had Shaun and Christian, but the marriage was also dissolved.

In 1971, Smith wed wife number three, Danielle. They remained together for 28 years and he dedicated his books to her until her death from cancer in 1999.

Smith now says he has no desire to see the trio and is instead focused on enjoying life with his fourth - and much younger - wife. He met Niso (right), who trained as a lawyer, within five months of his third wife’s death

It was shortly after he married Danielle that Smith cut off all contact with his son, Shaun, and daughter, Christian, the children of his second wife, Anne. Instead he directed his attention on Danielle's son from a previous relationship, Dieter Schmidt, and later adopted him.

He has previously claimed a mutual gap opened up between himself and Shaun and Christian because 'they subscribed to their mother's philosophy of life and rejected mine'.

It's sadder for them than it is for me, because they're not getting any more money

Smith later went on to say that Danielle had 'pushed them out to make way for her own child', intercepting their mail when they wrote to him. He began treating them in a more strict manner but this only pushed them away.

That was until his latest wife got hold of Shaun's telephone number and told Smith to reconcile the relationship.

Though he dodged the idea for a couple of days the pair did eventually agree to meet for the first time in 27 years around a decade ago.

It went well, with Smith finding out that Shaun had joined the SAS, had a distinguished military career and later formed a successful company he sold for millions of pounds.

But despite saying he was proud of his son's achievements, given that he'd told him 'You'll never amount to anything' when they parted almost three decades previously, the pair are believed to have drifted apart again.

Wilbur Smith says he no longer sees his daughter Christian and son Shaun (pictured when they were young)

He hasn't attempted a similar reconciliation with Christian or his estranged son Lawrence. Previously his daughter has accused him of neglect and stinginess. Smith named Dieter, a specialist doctor, as his sole heir but his adopted son later unsuccessfully tried to sue him.

Speaking of his third wife Danielle's cancer battle, Smith has said in the past: ‘She got it in the brain and it changed her. In the end she was just a baby. She couldn’t talk. I had nursing staff 24 hours a day.'

He met Niso, who trained as a lawyer, within five months of his third wife’s death.

Mrs Smith said her husband could be unforgiving, adding: ‘Wilbur is very kind, very respectful. He believes in family values – love, trust, being honourable. But if the trust is broken and people take advantage of him, he can be like a raging lion.

‘I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of Wilbur then. His motto is: “Revenge is a dish best eaten cold.”’

Smith's epic adventure sagas are usually set in southern Africa and often reflect his own upbringing there, as well as taking in the continent’s bitter colonial history, big-game hunting, gold-mining and plenty of carousing and family feuding.