‘Penniless’ German ex-wife of King Charles’s mega-rich art dealer friend WINS £12m divorce payout

A ‘destitute’ ex-wife of a German tycoon who befriended King Charles III has been awarded a £12 million payout after a protracted legal spat saw her divorce drag on to the courts in Germany and London.

Clarissa Pierburg, 72, was married to multimillionaire industrialist and art collector Jurgen Pierburg – a friend of King Charles III and participant in Prince William’s wedding to Kate Middleton – until their breakup in 2017.

Ms Pierburg’s lawyers told Supreme Court justices she had “nothing in the world” after the couple’s high-profile divorce dragged through the courts.

The couple married in 1985 after Pierburg split from his first wife Christine in 1984 — and they lived an ultra-luxurious lifestyle until their divorce in 2017.

The Pierburgs shared a castle in Switzerland with a staff of nine servants, a multimillion-pound second home in Knightsbridge, and a £10 million 140-foot superyacht.

Mr. Pierburg, who previously supported Charles’s charitable projects, also shared a cultural treasure trove with his wife in the form of a private art collection.

Following a divorce filed in Germany in 2020, Justice Moor issued a financial injunction and handed Clarissa a package he estimated at more than £12million – including a £4million Knightsbridge flat.

Judge Moor described a recent settlement attempt between the couple in Germany in May as the top judge said he expected them to abide by the terms agreed to at a Dusseldorf hotel that was “toasted with champagne.”

Mr. Pierburg is a member of the renowned Pierburg industrial dynasty, which made its fortune in the German automotive industry.

He inherited control of the company and most of its wealth when his father Alfred died in 1975.

He has since become famous as an art collector, selling a bronze sculpture by Matisse for £37 million in 2010, a record for the artist at the time.

In a 2014 speech, Charles thanked Mr and Mrs Pierburg for their financial support for his charity project to restore the Scottish country house Dumfries House.

During his speech to the Supreme Court, Mr Justice Moor estimated that Mr Pierburg is worth around £160 million.

The court heard that the couple had a ‘phenomenal’ standard of living while together, spending between £8 and 13 million a year on themselves.

After they became estranged, Mr. Pierburg launched a petition to address their split in his native Germany.

But his ex-wife told the judge she was “domiciled” in Switzerland but decided to move permanently to her “home” in Knightsbridge in the summer of 2017.

She renounced her ties to Germany, saying that she only associated with Mr. Pierburg’s friends there, and that she had none of her own.

She claimed her “love affair” with England started when she worked as an au pair in York in the 1960s.

And even before moving to London, the city had been an “integral part of her life,” she claimed.

However, Mr Pierburg claimed his wife was “German to the core” and Mr Justice Moor ruled in 2019 that they were not allowed to divorce in the UK.

At the time, Clarissa’s lawyers said she was left “sad” and “quite destitute” after losing her battle to divorce Mr Pierburg in Britain.

At the 2019 hearing, her attorney Charles Howard QC said Ms. Pierburg was “quite saddened” about losing the case and “has nothing in the world.”

“My client is now not only destitute but also owes £80,000,” he added.

But Lewis Marks QC, for the husband, said Mr Pierburg had “sympathy” for his estranged wife’s financial situation.

In his latest ruling, Mr Justice Moor said that, after a German divorce in October 2020, the couple met at a hotel in Düsseldorf to try to reach a financial agreement.

They agreed on a package worth more than £12 million, which included Clarissa handing over her £4 million house in Knightsbridge.

But the woman later withdrew from that agreement, saying she wasn’t happy about it because it “left out important things for her.”

She then took her fight for money to England, where Mr Justice Moor has now given her a deal similar to the one she had agreed in Düsseldorf.

He said: ‘It is clear to me that there is sufficient connection in this case to make a financial award in principle.

‘The parties had a home here. The woman was very attached to this country and decided to make her life here when the marriage broke down.

“Whether this was originally a tactical decision or not, I’m confident she now plans to live here indefinitely.”

The judge said the woman described their standard of living during the marriage as “phenomenal”.

“She then said that the spending rate was between EUR 10 million and EUR 15 million per year,” he added.

The judge confirmed that her divorce package would include the £4 million house, around £1 million to renovate the property, provisions for a second mansion and maintenance payments of around £500,000 a year for life unless she remarries.

The alimony is paid from the man’s estate, even if he dies before the woman, the judge ruled.

“These parties have been embroiled in bitterly contested lawsuits for a number of years now – it is time for that to end,” Judge Moor said.

“The parties wanted it to end when they met in Düsseldorf on May 20, 2022. I now expect it to end on the terms of that Düsseldorf agreement.

After all, both parties were not satisfied with it as a good solution until May 20, 2022. They even toasted champagne on it.

“I very much hope that the husband sees the point in this too.”