Celebrity journeys through the courts

THEY may begin with professions of undying devotion and star-studded wedding ceremonies, but celebrity marriages often end in the divorce courts.

Paul McCartney and Heather Mills are by no means the first to have their private lives put under the microscope of publicity as their relationship collapses.

American magazine Forbes published a list of high-value celebrity divorces earlier this year, topped by basketball player Michael Jordan.

The star split from Juanita, his wife since 1989, last year, and was ordered to pay the former Chicago bank clerk around £70m (€100m).

In 1999, Texan model Jerry Hall split from Mick Jagger after he fathered a child by a Brazilian model.

After 22 years with the Rolling Stone, Hall walked away with an estimated payoff of £7.5m-£12.5m.

Ten years earlier, Stephen Spielberg’s wife Amy Irving successfully contested a prenuptial agreement and was granted a £50m payout.

Arsenal footballer Ray Parlour’s wife Karen won a landmark divorce ruling in 2004 when she was awarded £1.8m of his future earnings after arguing she had played a vital role in shaping his career.

The former optician’s assistant challenged a settlement that included £250,000 a year and two houses worth a total of £1m.

She argued she was entitled to more of his £1.2m yearly earnings and the court agreed, awarding her £406,500 in support each year.

Hollywood golden couple Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston stunned the world in 2005 with the announcement that they were to part.

Aniston and Pitt appeared to part on good terms but their break-up took a new twist when fellow actress Angelina Jolie was romantically linked with Pitt.

Chris Tarrant’s 16-year marriage ended last September when it was revealed that he had had an affair with a teacher, The break-up turned sour when he and ex-wife Ingrid traded insults in newspaper interviews.

After a paper claimed she had imposed a seven-year marital sex ban, Mrs Tarrant said in an interview that he suffered from erectile dysfunction.

For those celebrities in the midst of a divorce it may be worth remembering advice from Ivana Trump, who divorced billionaire Donald Trump in 1991.

In a cameo role in Hollywood film The First Wives Club she uttered the immortal line “Remember girls, don’t get mad, get everything”.