A court here granted a decree absolute to formally end the marriage of Pauline Chai to Khoo Kay Peng. Chai had filed for divorce four years ago.
The court will decide on the settlement amount later, but it is expected to be the largest ever divorce settlement in the United Kingdom, according to a report in the Daily Mail.
Khoo is non-executive chairman of Laura Ashley Holdings, one of Britain’s most popular homeware stores. He is based in Malaysia.
Chai, who was Miss Malaysia in 1969, lives on a sprawling £30 million estate in Hertfordshire, complete with an exotic menagerie of alpacas and llamas, and a dressing room filled with 1,000 pairs of shoes, according to the Daily Mail report.
Khoo, 78, married Chai, 70, in 1970. They have five grown-up children.
They have been fighting over money in the courts since 2012.
Khoo wanted the case to be heard in Malaysia but Chai managed to get it heard in London, as judges there are said to be more generous with their awards.
Chai’s lawyer Ayesha Vardag was quoted as saying: “Today’s grant of decree absolute brings an end to a process set in motion nearly four years ago.
“Ms Chai feels a great sense of relief that she can now move on with her life, with her faith in the fairness of the English legal system affirmed once again.
‘She is delighted now to have the independence which the grant of decree absolute signifies.
‘All that now remains is to obtain the just financial settlement to which she is so clearly entitled, having supported her former husband in his business endeavours for nearly five decades, and having raised their five children.”
Vardag, the Daily Mail report said, had previously claimed that Khoo was worth more than £440 million (RM2.4 billion) but that Khoo maintained he had assets worth only £66 million.
Vardag told the Daily Mail: “We’re not arguing about a few thousand; we’re arguing about hundreds of millions. That’s why there’s such a big fight.”