The anti-poverty campaigner has cared for 11-year-old Heavenly Hirani Tiger Lily Hutchence since 2000, when her mother and Bob's ex-wife Paula Yates died of a heroin overdose, and three years after her INXS singer father was found dead in a Sydney hotel room.
The Hutchence family have now received a letter from Bob's lawyers informing them of his intentions to change Tiger Lily's surname to Geldof and to make her formally his daughter. The move has not been welcomed by the family.
Tina Hutchence - Michael's sister - fumed: "It's not enough that he should have Tiger Lily, but he thinks he should adopt her and change her name."