Multi-millionaire art collector Charles Saatchi has begun divorce proceedings against Nigella Lawson just four weeks after he grabbed her at a celebrity restaurant in London, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The former advertising tycoon, 70, says he has made the ‘heartbreaking’ decision to formally separate from the television chef because she refused to defend his reputation after he was pictured with his hand around her neck at their table. He told The Mail on Sunday: ‘I am sorry to announce that Nigella Lawson and I are getting divorced.
‘I feel that I have clearly been a disappointment to Nigella during the last year or so, and I am disappointed that she was advised to make no public comment to explain that I abhor violence of any kind against women, and have never abused her physically in any way.’
The sensational disclosure brings the couple’s ten-year marriage to a bitter end after weeks of speculation.
Saatchi was seen clutching 53-year-old Ms Lawson’s throat and tweaking her nose for 27 minutes in horrifying pictures taken during an argument at Mayfair restaurant Scott’s on June 9.
A week later the images were published in a Sunday newspaper and within hours Ms Lawson had fled to a £10,000-a-week bolthole with her son Bruno, 17. They have not spoken to each other since.
Despite repeated pleas from Saatchi his wife has refused to answer his calls or return his text messages.
Today The Mail on Sunday can reveal the true story behind the collapse of their marriage, the brutal aftermath of the ‘strangle row’ – and the devastating physical fixation that destroyed one of society’s most glamorous couples. His about the incidence:
Labels: abuse, charles saatchi, divorce, nigella lawson
