Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi have been granted a decree nisi at London’s High Court in a hearing which lasted less than one minute.
Their ‘quickie’ divorce on Wednesday comes seven weeks after the millionaire art collector was photographed with his hand around her throat.
District judge Anne Aitken granted the estranged couple a decree nisi which is the first legal step to ending their 10-year marriage.
They now have to wait six weeks and one day until they can be granted a decree absolute which will legally finalise their divorce.
The domestic goddess, 53, had employed Fiona Shackleton, who represented Prince Charles in his divorce with Princess Diana, for a ‘swift and amicable resolution’.
Nigella filed the papers for the case – which took place at 10.30am today – citing her husband’s ‘unreasonable behaviour’.
Neither of the parties appeared in court to see the end of their 10-year marriage.
Their marriage came to a bitter end after art collector Saatchi, 70, was pictured with his hand around the TV chef’s neck at Scott’s restaurant in Mayfair, where the couple were known to frequently dine, on June 9.
Pictures emerged showing Saatchi appearing to grab Nigella by her throat and tweak her nose, while she looked tearful before leaving in a taxi.
Saatchi later described the apparent argument as a ‘playful tiff’ and accepted a police caution for assault.
He then announced his plans to divorce Nigella as he felt let down that she hadn’t defended him in public.
His statement read: ‘I am sorry to announce that Nigella Lawson and I are getting divorced,’ the 70-year-old said in a statement.
‘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.
‘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.’
But it turns out it was Nigella who filed the papers.
While their joint fortune is estimated at £150million, they have agreed to never reveal the terms of their divorce, according to the Daily Mail.
It is believed they signed a pre-nuptial agreement when they married in 2003.
Nigella is reportedly planning a love to Los Angles where she is filming the new series of her ABC show The Taste.
Their case is the 12th of 20 undefended petitions which will be heard by district judge Anne Aitken at the Principal Registry of the High Court in London.
