Back in October last year we wrote about the divorce of Her Royal Highness Princess Tessy of Luxembourg and her husband His Royal Highness Prince Louis, and the financial remedies application that the Princess issued in the High Court in London. The final hearing of that application, before Mr Justice MacDonald, has now taken place.
The outcome of the application might seem quite mundane, given the exalted status of the parties. It is also notable that the Princess represented herself at the hearing, with the assistance of a McKenzie Friend. Mr Justice MacDonald dismissed the Princess’s application for a property transfer order with respect to the former matrimonial home in London, and made an order providing a licence for the Princess and the two children of the marriage to occupy the home, terminable on six months notice, a nominal spousal maintenance order, and a child maintenance order in the sum of £4,000 per year per child.
He concluded his judgment by referring to the allegations that we mentioned in our previous post that the Princess was simply a ‘gold digger’, saying that: “Nothing could be further from the truth.” He went on:
“In his statement for this final hearing, the husband states that “We married young and much has been expected from the applicant in her role as Princess. She undertook that role with grace and represented my family well, for which I am grateful to her.” At its heart, this is simply a sad case about a young couple who determined to marry for love despite the considerable challenges posed by the way in which history, tradition and chance had conspired to define their respective social status and to shape attitudes towards their marriage. It is a case about a couple who thereafter, for a time, were happy together, before the fairy tale soured.
“The fact that the wife chose in these circumstances to pursue financial remedies, as is her right in accordance with the law, does not act to equate her with those people who cynically form relationships with partners in order to obtain money or status. Although a legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of expression, and whilst the point does not fall formally for me to determine, on the detailed evidence that has been available to me I take the view that the manner in which the wife has been traduced in some sections of the press by the use of that malign characterisation is both unfair and unwarranted.”
You can read Mr Justice MacDonald’s full judgment here.
* * *
Family Law Cafe surrounds and supports the customer with both legal and pastoral care, end to end, from top barristers to case workers to therapists and mediators, to help the customer get the best possible result with the minimum stress.
Image of Prince Louis and Tessy Antony by Schnékert (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
.jpg){kind=link}