Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi will start their “quickie divorce” proceedings tomorrow, meaning their 10-year marriage could be over in a matter of minutes.
Nigella has filed an application to end the marriage after pictures emerged of Saatchi choking her and tweaking her nose in public.
A decree nisi, which is a statement from London’s High Court announcing that a divorce can go ahead, will be issued before 10.30am tomorrow, UK time.
Nigella and Saatchi will not need to be present at the hearing, and it is believed that both have agreed never to reveal the reasons behind or terms of the divorce.
Neither side are offering any defence or argument in the case, with Nigella having hired notorious divorce lawyer, Fiona Shackleton, to make arrangements on her behalf, and Saatchi choosing to represent himself.
Baroness Shackleton has previously advised the Prince of Wales in his divorce and represented Sir Paul McCartney.
The couple, who are worth an estimated $228 million, signed a pre-nuptial agreement when they wed in 2003.
After the pictures emerged, which showed Saatchi with his hands around his wife’s neck, he brushed off the incident as a “playful tiff”. He was later given a police caution for assault.
Saatchi then released a statement to The Mail, announcing that he had made the “heartbreaking decision” to divorce after his wife refused to defend him.
Nigella moved out of the family home with her son Bruno the day after the incident and never returned.
She will soon head to LA to film the new season of her hit ABC show The Taste.
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