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.
