Legal News

A high profile acrimonious divorce battle which was about to go to trial in the High Court and expecting to cost over £2m has been avoided after the parties struck a deal worth £17million.

The 7th Marquess of Northampton struck a deal with his soon to be ex-wife and spared them both a divorce trial and ending up as one of the most expensive legal battle in English legal history.

The 20 year old marriage of Spencer Northampton one of the wealthiest aristocrats in Britain and Lady Pamela had come to the state after it was found that Lady Pamela had been having an affair with a wealthy Romanian.

Under the terms of agreement Lady Northampton, 61, will receive a £4m apartment in Pimlico, central London, as well as cash and possessions worth £13m. She had originally demanded £25m.

But major part of the estate estimated to be around £120m of the aristocrat would remain intact. The acrimonious divorce proceeding had started in the summer and are bound by confidentiality clause which prevents the parties from speaking about the failure of their marriage.

At a pre-trial hearing, Lady Northampton's lover was named as Dr Dan Stoicescu, who made his fortune in the pharmaceutical industry.

Lord Northampton, 66, who was married four times before he took up Lady Pamela as his bride had thrown her out after a secret tape recorded by Lady Pamela’s mother had surfaced which purportedly had been between Lady Pamela and her 87 year old father Jim Haworth. The tape had been the cause for a separate privacy action between the couple which too has ended now.

Lady Pamela was born in a working class family from Lancashire as Pamela Kyprios. Lord Northampton had met her after her second divorce from a wealthy Greek American shipping financier as the Lord shared a mutual interest in spiritualism with Lady Pamela.

According to Lord Northampton she was introduced to the Lord by friends and while planning to open a holistic healing centre she had visited his London home demanding to talk to him about her project and never left.

They married in December 1990 and seemed to be blissfully happy. But things started turning sour from 2006 after they met Dr Dan Stoicescu, 60, who was very rich and divorced. He became a family friend and was a regular guest at Compton Wynyates.

'Stoicescu's role in the end of his marriage was a complete and utter shock.'

As English divorce law largely protects inherited wealth, under the divorce settlement his two stately homes, Compton Wynyates and Castle Ashby were going to be in the family and passed on to his heir.

His other assets which include the Sevso Treasure, which comprises 14 large decorated silver vessels and platters cannot be sold due to a long-running dispute over their provenance.

It is thought a painting of Mary I, dating back to 1554 and worth around £6m, may be auctioned to help pay for the divorce settlement.