British contemporary art collector and ad guru Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson, the celebrity television chef, have decided not to make any financial claims against each other in their divorce proceedings.
The estranged couple’s divorce will be undefended and a decree nisi will be pronounced before the end of July.
In a statement issued on their behalf, it was revealed, “A divorce will proceed on the undefended basis, the decree nisi is to be pronounced on 31 July, and neither party will be making any financial claims against the other.”
Lawson is represented by her cousin, Fiona Shackleton, who was Sir Paul McCartney’s divorce lawyer against his wife Heather Mills. They denied that Saatchi had hired top divorce lawyer Helen Ward. “Following the separation of Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi there has been much inaccurate speculation in the press over the weekend,” the statement said.“Contrary to some reports, Charles Saatchi has not consulted lawyers and has represented himself throughout. Both parties would appreciate privacy for themselves and their children at this difficult time,” it added.
Saatchi had been cautioned last month after the Sunday People published photographs which showed the Iraq-born co-founder of the ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi grasping her neck with his hands as they sat at a table outside a central London restaurant. The 10-year marriage unravelled quickly after the photographs were published and 70-year-old Saatchi earlier in July announced his decision to divorce her in a newspaper interview. Media-shy Saatchi, who has been married three times, ironically revealed the end of his marital relationship to the world in an interview.