Nigella Lawson "attacked by husband" at Restaurant

Not Born Yesterday wrote:http://news.sky.com/story/1112501/charles-saatchi-files-for-divorce-after-row

It would be interesting to have a public comment from Nigella.

I was just watching this being dicussed on the Andrew Marr programme!!! Apparently, I think it was the Sunday Express review, Saatchi hadn't told Nigella before making this announcement.  This is going to to be a bitter divorce .

Run Nigella hen, run for the hills.! You're well rid!

Iris wrote:Run Nigella hen, run for the hills.!  You're well rid!

Yes, Nigella doesn't need money and will probably have more contracts because of this  

What a disgusting repulsive little old man.

I live up on the hills and have offered Her sanctuary if she wants,she only needs to ask.  

Lioned wrote:I live up on the hills and have offered Her sanctuary if she wants,she only needs to ask.   

You're all heart!  

I would even let her practice her cooking if she wants.

I'm sure she's beating a path to your door as we speak.
 
A work colleague lived in hopes that Nicole Kidman would head in his direction when she broke up with Tom Cruise but sadly he's still waiting!

Sorry i just can't help it.Since i read she may be single again my hormones have been doing a merry jig.Just need to persuade Mrs L of the benefits and then see what happens.

Saatchi To Divorce Nigella After Neck RowThe 70-year-old says they have drifted apart and claims his wife has grabbed his neck during previous arguments.6:04am UK, Monday 08 July 2013 Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson have been married for 10 years
EmailArt collector Charles Saatchi has announced he has filed for divorce from Nigella Lawson - citing her refusal to defend his reputation after he was pictured with his hand around her neck at a restaurant.

In a statement, the 70-year-old 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 couple were pictured on June 9 during an argument at Scott's restaurant in Mayfair, central London.

Images showed Mr Saatchi with his hand around the 53-year-old celebrity chef's throat.

Ms Lawson, the daughter of former chancellor Lord Lawson, was reportedly seen weeping following the episode. She did not make a complaint to police.

Mr Saatchi voluntarily attended a central London police station and accepted a caution, saying he did not want the incident "hanging over all of us".

But he claimed his wife has refused to answer calls after apparently leaving the family home with her two children, Cosima, 19, and Bruno, 17, from her previous marriage to journalist John Diamond, who died of throat cancer in 2001.

Mr Saatchi, who made his name in advertising, said: "This is heartbreaking for both of us as our love was very deep, but in the last year we have become estranged and drifted apart.

"The row photographed at Scott's restaurant could equally have been Nigella grasping my neck to hold my attention - as indeed she has done in the past."

Mr Saatchi insisted his actions were not violent, saying that while he had his hands around Ms Lawson's neck, "there was no pressure applied to her".

He said the pictures gave a "wholly different and incorrect implication", adding: "I am sorry that we had a row. I am sorry she was upset. I am even more sorry that this is the end of our marriage."

Ms Lawson became a household name in 1998 with her first cookery book, How To Eat. She married Mr Saatchi in 2003.

Her spokesman said: "There is no comment from Nigella."

Nigella Lawson consults Sir Paul McCartney's divorce lawyer
Nigella Lawson has consulted with Britain’s most prominent divorce lawyer Fiona Shackleton who has acted for a haul of celebrities including Sir Paul McCartney and members of the Royal family in their divorce cases.

Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi Photo: Jane Mingay/Daily Telegraph
By Claire Carter
7:56AM BST 10 Jul 2013
The television chef is said to have sought advice from Baroness Shackleton after her husband Charles Saatchi announced he was divorcing her in a national newspaper following a row over photographs which showed his hands around her neck outside a London restaurant.

Miss Lawson is thought to have consulted her cousin Lady Shackleton as the couple, estimated to be worth £130 million, prepare to divide their assets.

A friend told the Sun newspaper: “Nigella never wanted it to come to this – but Fiona has been a rock of support and she is glad to have her on her side.

“Nigella is soft so she needs someone strong representing her – and they don’t come any tougher than Fiona.

“Charles must be quaking in his boots.”

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Miss Lawson is thought to have turned to the lawyer following the incident four weeks ago, which led to photographs of a row outside Scott’s in Mayfair being published. These showed the advertising guru with his hands around her throat and at one point his fingers up her nose. This led to the mother-of-two moving out of the couple’s £12 million home in Chelsea in London.

Miss Lawson is said to have not known about her 70-year-old husband’s intention to file for divorce until a statement appeared in a national newspaper last weekend.

Baroness Shackleton, 57, is known as the ‘doyenne of divorce’ for her success in divorce cases – having famously had a glass of water chucked over her by Heather Mills when she argued she was only entitled to a fraction of Sir Paul McCartney’s £125 million fortune.

Miss Mills was awarded £24.3 million.

She also acted for the Prince of Wales in his divorce from Diana and for Madonna when she split with director Guy Ritchie. She remains solicitor to Princes William and Harry.

Telegraph.co.uk Friday 12 July 2013
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Home»News»Celebrity newsCharles Saatchi's parting shot at Nigella Lawson, the goddess who outgrew him
The PR genius Charles Saatchi used the media to create the image of Nigella Lawson, now he is using it to dismantle her

Charles Saatchi announced his divorce from Nigella Lawson through the press, characteristically trying to regain control of the situation Photo: GETTY
By Cristina Odone
7:14PM BST 08 Jul 2013
355 Comments
It was impossible, in 1979, to be up at Oxford and not know of Nigella Lawson. She and a group of undergraduate friends had been splashed on the cover of a magazine: the “Bright Young Things”, as it dubbed them, led a charmed existence of champagne breakfasts and fast cars. The golden youths included gorgeous nobodies like Hugh Grant, but most, like Lawson (whose father was then energy secretary under Margaret Thatcher), were the scion of important dynasties – titled, landed, or just high-profile.

Even among these stunners, Nigella stood out. Her luscious looks turned heads, but she was a scholar, too, a bluestocking who could recite cantos from Dante’s Inferno. I was a year below her and never in her set, but like everyone else there, I felt I knew her.

I’m not sure anyone really did: Nigella was wary, even back then, of revealing too much of herself. Suffering – she went on to lose first her mother and then her sister to cancer – insulated her. Later, when her husband John Diamond also died from the disease, I remember being struck by how similar Nigella was to Jackie Onassis: a glamorous but tragic young widow with two small children who must forge a path amid public scrutiny.

Like Jackie O, Nigella soon found someone to lean on: Charles Saatchi did not quite match Ari Onassis’s outrageous wealth, but he had made a fortune with his PR company. Like the Greek shipping tycoon, Saatchi was immensely controlling: a perfect Svengali for a beautiful and vulnerable trophy wife. He could launch her; she would tame him.

It turned out to be a Faustian pact. The man who once manipulated the media to create Nigella the domestic goddess has used it now to humiliate her. On Sunday, Charles Saatchi told a newspaper he was filing for divorce. Nigella learnt that her 10-year marriage was over from the pages of a tabloid.

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“I am sorry to announce that Nigella Lawson and I are getting divorced,” he said, characteristically trying to regain control of the situation. Expressing his disappointment that his wife had failed publicly to exonerate his behaviour when he appeared to grab her by the throat while dining at Scott’s restaurant, Saatchi finished his statement on a distinctly sour note: “I wish Nigella the best for the future and for her continuing global success.” Svengali finally got his revenge on the woman who had outgrown him.

When Saatchi met Nigella, she had just come out with a best-selling cookery book, How to Eat. Like the cook herself, the recipes were fresh and delicious, but also a bit quirky. “Not to everyone’s taste,” as one foodie sniffed at the time. Nor was Nigella herself, truth be told. When Michael Jackson, then head of Channel 4, decided to give Nigella a cooking show, he was warned that she was too posh, too bluestocking, too distant.

The sceptics had not noticed that Charles Saatchi, who had transformed a grocer’s daughter into a Prime Minister, lurked behind the scenes. Saatchi instinctively knew that to draw television viewers, Nigella had to play down the wordy intellectual and ramp up the sex appeal. Women chefs on TV had hitherto been pleasant, chatty types, like Delia Smith and Julia Child. They diced, chopped and fried food as if it were a means to an end. Saatchi’s genius lay in persuading Nigella to caress, squeeze, lick the food as if it were an object of lust. Its preparation should become a proxy for sex.

The formula worked. Viewers were seduced. Nigella, the temptress at the Aga, disproved the old Jerry Hall adage that “men want a cook in the kitchen and a whore in the bedroom”. In the world according to Saatchi, the kitchen was not only the hearth but the backdrop to lusty appetites and titillating innuendo. Men who couldn’t boil an egg tuned in to savour Nigella in her tight-fitting outfits and scarlet lipstick. Women who’d dismissed cooking as a housewifely chore now recognised its powerful sensuality.

Nigella married her Svengali. He revelled in her – nay, their – success. His status and millions ensured that no matter how popular his wife became, he was still the greater of the two. He plotted her career minutely, from the cheeky subversive title of her next book, How to be a Domestic Goddess, to the outfits she should wear on TV.

He took care of her media profile, too: which parties she should attend and which restaurants they should frequent. She should come across as clever but kind, sexy but nurturing; not too ambitious, not too assertive. His uncanny sense of PR polished Nigella’s image to golden perfection.

The problem was, it was just an image. The PR genius mistook illusion for reality. Nigella was not the pliable model of Saatchi’s apparent romantic fantasy. She was opinionated, clever and spirited. When he met her, tragedy had pummelled her into compliance. But time restored Nigella’s sense of self – and success was giving her a new confidence. She was no longer a British celeb, she was a global star: Americans loved her, Swedes were calling their daughters Nigella and even the snooty French were endorsing the British recipes “de Nigella”.

Charles Saatchi woke up to find he was the lesser of the two. Like so many men married to women who are more high-profile, or bigger earners, Saatchi grew resentful. In his anger he made some bad miscalculations – the kind even a PR novice would have avoided. For having dismissed the throttling incident as no more than a tiff, Saatchi then accepted a police caution and allowed Nigella to be photographed taking her belongings from their marital home.

His latest act, however, in announcing via a newspaper that he intends to divorce her, is one calculated to heap maximum humiliation on his wife. He had used the media to create Nigella, now he would use it to destroy her.

Except Nigella Lawson won’t be destroyed. Her resilience will see her through this crisis as it has seen her through all the previous ones. She will bide her time, make a new home, maybe move with her children to America, where she may well find herself a new man – a sunny, supportive figure whose star burns so much brighter than Saatchi’s.

After all, this chef knows that revenge is a dish best served cold.

No cash claims in Nigella divorce












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Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi are divorcing

Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi have declared that neither of them will make a financial claim against the other in their divorce proceedings.

The couple - both worth millions - said the divorce will be "undefended" and a decree nisi will be pronounced before the end of this month.

The pair separated in the aftermath of a photograph being published in which Saatchi was seen holding his wife by her throat, and he agreed to accept a police caution for assault as a result.

They also confirmed that Fiona Shackleton - who represented Sir Paul McCartney during his divorce from Heather Mills - was working on behalf of Nigella to bring the matter to a "swift and amicable" conclusion.

A statement issued on behalf of the former couple said: "Following the separation of Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi there has been much inaccurate speculation in the press over the weekend.

"Nigella and Charles would like to clarify the position. We can confirm that Fiona Shackleton is acting for Nigella Lawson to ensure a swift and amicable resolution. 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.

"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."

Photographs of "Domestic Goddess" Nigella, 53, and Saatchi, 70, were published a month ago which showed him holding her by the throat as they had an argument on the terrace of a restaurant.

Art collector Saatchi announced just over a week ago that they were to divorce, saying it had been a ''heartbreaking'' decision. He told the Mail on Sunday he had "clearly been a disappointment" to his wife, and said they have "become estranged and drifted apart" over the past year.

Saatchi had been critical of his wife's decision to avoid making any public comment about the incident, saying: "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.''

After the pictures were initially published he dismissed the incident as nothing more than "a playful tiff". He accepted the caution to stop the incident "hanging over" them, he said.

TV chef Nigella and former advertising executive Saatchi married in 2003. She was previously married to journalist John Diamond, who died of throat cancer in 2001, with whom she has two children, Cosima and Bruno.
.



related stories on msn

Nigella Lawson divorce from Charles Saatchi 'gives couples false hope of quickie split'
21 Jul 2013 06:17

Reports claim famous TV chef Nigella Lawson will be legally split from her art collector husband Charles Saatchi by the end of the month. But a Welsh lawyer says reality is very different for most couples







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Nigella Lawson


‘Quickie’ celeb divorces like Nigella Lawson’s are giving desperate couples an unrealistic idea of how long it takes to end their marriage, lawyers claim.

A leading Welsh family lawyer warns the average divorce still takes around six months – despite headlines suggesting celebrity chef Nigella will be legally single within four weeks.

And she has warned against quickie divorce websites that could encourage spouses to split now and pay later.

Nigella, 53, and her art collector husband Charles Saatchi, 70, are said to be divorcing in a ‘swift and amicable’ settlement, with newspaper reports proclaiming the 10-year marriage will be dissolved by the end of July.

It comes after photographs of Lawson, 53, and Saatchi, 70, were published showing him apparently holding her by the throat on the terrace of a London restaurant.

The couple, who each have substantial fortunes, announced on Monday that Nigella’s divorce petition will be ‘undefended’ by her husband and neither will be making any financial claims on the other.

Reports claim the couple will be divorced by the end of July but Sara Tomaszewski, at JNP Legal in Merthyr Tydfil, says that is not the full story.

“Nigella and Charles won’t be divorced by the end of the July, the decree nisi will be pronounced by the end of the July,” she said.

“And a decree nisi is not a final divorce, it means the court will have concluded they are entitled to a divorce.

“I have clients who say to me ‘Madonna divorced in a month’ but she didn’t. It’s impossible.”


Charles Saatchi

The process will usually take around three months at the minimum, she said.

“Once the petition is issued and the other party has responded to the court, a certificate of entitlement may arrive after a week, the decree nisi is often pronounced a month later, and it must be six weeks and one day before the decree absolute is produced,” she said.

“So in Nigella’s case, that’s a divorce in around September.

“I tell my clients to expect a divorce to take six months, and that’s in a very reasonable case. To be sure, you need to prepare for it to take up to nine months.”

She said ordinary couples could hit unexpected stumbling blocks not always applicable to a celebrity.

“There are so many factors affecting the average person seeking a divorce, in contrast with a celebrity,” said Sara.

“They don’t have to go to work every day, making time to see a solicitor isn’t an issue, and they have someone to make sure all the paperwork gets in on time.

“There’s also the cost. Quite often high profile divorce lawyers are being paid significantly more than the average high street lawyer, meaning more time to spend on each individual case.

“In every divorce, unless you’re exempt, the petitioner is required to pay a fee of £410 to the court, and finding that sum can hold things up for a couple.”

Other delays can include issues relating to the grounds cited for divorce in the first place.

“Charles Saatchi was cautioned for assault, making the grounds for the divorce a little clearer,” said Sara.

“Assault forms a part of unreasonable behaviour, but it can take many more subtle forms, for example where one party has stopped engaging with family life.

“When you draft a petition in terms of unreasonable behaviour, it is usually sent to the other party to see if the parties can agree the contents, which can again delay the process. But in Nigella’s case this will have been possible to arrange swiftly.”

The other party acknowledging proceedings and notifying the court whether they intend to defend it can cause the biggest delay.

“It can be massively prolonged,” said Sara.

“It’s far harder for a celebrity to avoid as they are naturally easier to find and have an interest in dealing with issues rather than burying their heads in the sand.”

She added: “The myth of the quickie divorce comes from celebrities, whose lives are so removed from reality.”

http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2013/7/26/250495/default/v1/270713-daily-mirror-1-329x437.jpg


He is gorgeous...good for her.

Krisy22 wrote:http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2013/7/26/250495/default/v1/270713-daily-mirror-1-329x437.jpg


He is gorgeous...good for her.

Wow, Krisy, didn't take her long did it.LOl It may be just a shoulder to cry on, Piers wife sadly died a while ago .

Panda wrote:

Krisy22 wrote:http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2013/7/26/250495/default/v1/270713-daily-mirror-1-329x437.jpg


He is gorgeous...good for her.

Wow, Krisy, didn't take her long did it.LOl It may be just a shoulder to cry on, Piers wife sadly died a while ago .

Good for her!  

Iris wrote:

Panda wrote:

Krisy22 wrote:http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2013/7/26/250495/default/v1/270713-daily-mirror-1-329x437.jpg


He is gorgeous...good for her.

Wow, Krisy, didn't take her long did it.LOl It may be just a shoulder to cry on, Piers wife sadly died a while ago .

Good for her!  

He lost his first wife in 91 but is happily remarried ..but has just lost his 41 year old daughter Charlotte to ovarian cancer – June this year. It has affected him terribly.

Still it is nice to see Nigella out getting on with her life...and being supported by a friend who happens to be a James Bond. 

Panda wrote:

Krisy22 wrote:http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2013/7/26/250495/default/v1/270713-daily-mirror-1-329x437.jpg


He is gorgeous...good for her.

Wow, Krisy, didn't take her long did it.LOl It may be just a shoulder to cry on, Piers wife sadly died a while ago .

He is still married to Keely Shaye Smith, his first wife died years ago, and his daughter a little while ago (He adopted her when he married 1st wife)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keely_Shaye_Smith

Krisy22 wrote:

Iris wrote:

Panda wrote:

Krisy22 wrote:http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2013/7/26/250495/default/v1/270713-daily-mirror-1-329x437.jpg


He is gorgeous...good for her.

Wow, Krisy, didn't take her long did it.LOl It may be just a shoulder to cry on, Piers wife sadly died a while ago .

Good for her!  

He lost his first wife in 91 but is happily remarried ..but has just lost his 41 year old daughter Charlotte to ovarian cancer – June this year. It has affected him terribly.

Still it is nice to see Nigella out getting on with her life...and being supported by a friend who happens to be a James Bond.   

Hi Krisy, 1991 eh, I didn't think it was that long ago ....let's hope his new Wife is understanding. 

fred wrote:

Panda wrote:

Krisy22 wrote:http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2013/7/26/250495/default/v1/270713-daily-mirror-1-329x437.jpg


He is gorgeous...good for her.

Wow, Krisy, didn't take her long did it.LOl It may be just a shoulder to cry on, Piers wife sadly died a while ago .

He is still married to Keely Shaye Smith, his first wife died years ago, and his daughter a little while ago (He adopted her when he married 1st wife)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keely_Shaye_Smith

Morning fred, thanks. Coincidentally, I watched Mama Mia on TV last night, Piers certainly has had a hard time .

Morning. I like Mama Mia, first film I went to see for years at the cinema.

Nigella certainly knows what it's like to lose relatives to cancer too; her first husband, mother and sister all died of it.

Yes, they probably became friends through Cancer charities and the loses they both have suffered.
I'm glad she's getting out and about with friends and not hiding away.

Home»News»Celebrity newsNigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi's divorce to be pronounced at High Court
Nigella Lawson will seek to end her marriage to Charles Saatchi with a “quickie” divorce on Wednesday.

Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi Photo: Jane Mingay/Daily Telegraph
By Sam Marsden
6:53PM BST 30 Jul 2013

The 53-year-old television cook is listed as the petitioner for a decree nisi at the High Court in London.

The couple separated last month after 70-year-old art collector Mr Saatchi was photographed with his hand around his wife’s throat.

Miss Lawson’s petition appears 12th on a list of 20 undefended cases to be heard by District Judge Anne Aitken in Court 9 at the Principal Registry of the High Court in High Holborn tomorrow.

The couple are not required to attend the hearing, and Miss Lawson is expected to seek the divorce on the grounds of her husband's unreasonable behaviour.

They said earlier this month that they wanted a “swift and amicable resolution” and would not seek any money from each other.

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Miss Lawson has instructed her cousin, Baroness Shackleton, the leading divorce solicitor who represented Sir Paul McCartney when he separated from Heather Mills, but her husband is not using any lawyers.

The couple married in a ceremony at their home on September 3, 2003, and were approaching their 10th anniversary when the pictures of them arguing outside Scott's restaurant in Mayfair were printed in a Sunday newspaper on June 16.

Miss Lawson moved out of their £14 million home in Chelsea, west London, on the same day and was seen without her wedding ring.

The photographs provoked criticism from campaigners against domestic violence.

Mr Saatchi initially described the incident as a "playful tiff", claiming that he had held Miss Lawson's neck repeatedly to "emphasise my point" while the couple discussed their children.

However, he later went voluntarily to Charing Cross police station and accepted a caution for assault, claiming that he did not want to have the matter "hanging over all of us for months".

Miss Lawson kept quiet about the incident, and only learned that Mr Saatchi was divorcing her when he issued a statement to the press. The art collector said he had taken the "heartbreaking" decision to end their marriage partly because she had failed to back him publicly over the dispute.

The couple will have to wait for at least six weeks after the decree nisi is pronounced before their divorce can be legally finalised with a decree absolute.