£100million prenup heiress hits out at 'unfaithful and greedy' husband
By Vanessa Allen
21st October 2010
Multi-millionaire Katrin Radmacher, 41, said her former husband had only married her for money, and admitted she had been blinded by love.
Miss Radmacher, one of Europe's wealthiest women, made legal history this week when the Supreme Court ruled her prenuptial contract should be binding.
Nicolas Granatino, 39, had tried to win £9.2million from her in the divorce courts, despite signing a marriage agreement that he would make no financial claim if their relationship failed.
The Supreme Court ruling effectively legalised prenup deals in England, sweeping aside centuries of tradition that a married couple share all their property.
Supporters of the contracts insist they will reduce the misery of divorce, as couples will no longer face a legal battle over their assets.
But for German heiress Miss Radmacher, whose fortune has been estimated at £106million, her divorce has proved bitter, expensive and very public.
'Looking back, I don't think he would have married me if I didn't have a penny,' she said.
'I fell head over heels with him. I was madly in love and we married too quickly, before I had really got to know him.'
Miss Radmacher said the judgement marked the end of a 'four-year nightmare', adding: 'It's been pretty hard.'
She told the London Evening Standard: 'I was the kind of girl who truly wants to be married just once. But things do go wrong and it is better to have a form of insurance. I don't think it's unromantic: just practical.'
Asked if the father of her two daughters had been faithful to her, she said: 'No, I don't think he was, but I didn't know that then. I think he cared a lot more about the money and that motivated him much more than it did me.'
Miss Radmacher told how her eight-year marriage had unravelled, despite three years of weekly relationship therapy sessions.
The couple met in Tramp's nightclub in 1997 and married a year later, after Miss Radmacher's father insisted they sign a prenup to protect her fortune and the family's vast paper-making empire.
When they married, Mr Granatino - himself the son of a French multi-millionaire - was an investment banker with JP Morgan, and was earning £120,000-a-year.
But in 2003 he quit his job in the City to study for a research doctorate at Oxford University, although he continued to rely on his wealthy wife to fund his luxury lifestyle.
She told Tatler magazine: 'I bought him a car because after the Madrid bombings in 2004 he said he didn't want to take the train to Oxford.
'I pointed at the BMW 5 Series; he pointed at the 6 Series and a Bentley. So I went for the 6 Series.
'No matter what I gave him, the moment he had it he wanted the next thing. It was very frustrating.
'He had a lot of things for himself that I would consider too expensive for me. His suits were Brioni.
'I bought him a watch from Breguet, a nice watch for our engagement. He wanted a more expensive one; I got him a £40,000 one. Then he pointed at the £150,000 one... That is not how I have been raised.'
Miss Radmacher said she realised her marriage was over during a luxury Caribbean holiday in the Turks and Caicos in 2006.
When they returned she announced she wanted a divorce, and offered Mr Granatino an identical flat to the £7,000-a-month apartment they shared on Sloane Street, West London.
She also offered him a financial settlement so he could finish his doctorate and continue to see their daughters, Chiara and Chloe, now aged 11 and eight.
Both sides consulted divorce lawyers, whose letters began arriving at the same flat, until Miss Radmacher eventually moved out with her daughters.
During their High Court divorce battle, Mr Granatino was awarded £5.5million, including £2.5million for a house, £25,000 for a car and £700,000 to pay off his debts.
The Supreme Court ruling means that settlement has been scrapped, and Miss Radmacher will now pay him £70,000-a-year until 2024, when their eldest daughter turns 22.
Miss Radmacher said a prenup was the only way a wealthy spouse could ensure they were marrying for love.
She said: 'It is the only way you can make certain that you are important as a person, not as a bank account.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-unfaithful-greedy-husband.html#ixzz132AbLGVO
By Vanessa Allen
21st October 2010
Multi-millionaire Katrin Radmacher, 41, said her former husband had only married her for money, and admitted she had been blinded by love.
Miss Radmacher, one of Europe's wealthiest women, made legal history this week when the Supreme Court ruled her prenuptial contract should be binding.
Nicolas Granatino, 39, had tried to win £9.2million from her in the divorce courts, despite signing a marriage agreement that he would make no financial claim if their relationship failed.
The Supreme Court ruling effectively legalised prenup deals in England, sweeping aside centuries of tradition that a married couple share all their property.
Supporters of the contracts insist they will reduce the misery of divorce, as couples will no longer face a legal battle over their assets.
But for German heiress Miss Radmacher, whose fortune has been estimated at £106million, her divorce has proved bitter, expensive and very public.
'Looking back, I don't think he would have married me if I didn't have a penny,' she said.
'I fell head over heels with him. I was madly in love and we married too quickly, before I had really got to know him.'
Miss Radmacher said the judgement marked the end of a 'four-year nightmare', adding: 'It's been pretty hard.'
She told the London Evening Standard: 'I was the kind of girl who truly wants to be married just once. But things do go wrong and it is better to have a form of insurance. I don't think it's unromantic: just practical.'
Asked if the father of her two daughters had been faithful to her, she said: 'No, I don't think he was, but I didn't know that then. I think he cared a lot more about the money and that motivated him much more than it did me.'
Miss Radmacher told how her eight-year marriage had unravelled, despite three years of weekly relationship therapy sessions.
The couple met in Tramp's nightclub in 1997 and married a year later, after Miss Radmacher's father insisted they sign a prenup to protect her fortune and the family's vast paper-making empire.
When they married, Mr Granatino - himself the son of a French multi-millionaire - was an investment banker with JP Morgan, and was earning £120,000-a-year.
But in 2003 he quit his job in the City to study for a research doctorate at Oxford University, although he continued to rely on his wealthy wife to fund his luxury lifestyle.
She told Tatler magazine: 'I bought him a car because after the Madrid bombings in 2004 he said he didn't want to take the train to Oxford.
'I pointed at the BMW 5 Series; he pointed at the 6 Series and a Bentley. So I went for the 6 Series.
'No matter what I gave him, the moment he had it he wanted the next thing. It was very frustrating.
'He had a lot of things for himself that I would consider too expensive for me. His suits were Brioni.
'I bought him a watch from Breguet, a nice watch for our engagement. He wanted a more expensive one; I got him a £40,000 one. Then he pointed at the £150,000 one... That is not how I have been raised.'
Miss Radmacher said she realised her marriage was over during a luxury Caribbean holiday in the Turks and Caicos in 2006.
When they returned she announced she wanted a divorce, and offered Mr Granatino an identical flat to the £7,000-a-month apartment they shared on Sloane Street, West London.
She also offered him a financial settlement so he could finish his doctorate and continue to see their daughters, Chiara and Chloe, now aged 11 and eight.
Both sides consulted divorce lawyers, whose letters began arriving at the same flat, until Miss Radmacher eventually moved out with her daughters.
During their High Court divorce battle, Mr Granatino was awarded £5.5million, including £2.5million for a house, £25,000 for a car and £700,000 to pay off his debts.
The Supreme Court ruling means that settlement has been scrapped, and Miss Radmacher will now pay him £70,000-a-year until 2024, when their eldest daughter turns 22.
Miss Radmacher said a prenup was the only way a wealthy spouse could ensure they were marrying for love.
She said: 'It is the only way you can make certain that you are important as a person, not as a bank account.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-unfaithful-greedy-husband.html#ixzz132AbLGVO
