Sir Elton John’s ex-wife suing singer for £3million for writing about their marriage in book
Renate Blauel claims the superstar's autobiography, ‘Me’, triggered long-standing mental health problems.
Sir Elton John’s ex-wife Renate Blauel is demanding a £3million pay-out after the superstar put pen to paper about their marriage in his book.
Thirty-two years on from their divorce, Blauel claims that the music legend broke the terms of their deal by writing about her in his 2019 autobiography, Me.
According to legal documents filed at London’s High Court this week, Sir Elton, 73, had agreed to remove certain passages ahead of publication.
However, Blauel says the comments that still made the cut have triggered long-standing mental health problems.
“Elton is shocked and saddened by Renate’s claim after 30 years of a mutually amicable and respectful divorce, especially as he has only ever praised her publically,” a source tells Attitude.
In one section of the book, Sir Elton reflects on the “huge guilt and regret” he felt for hurting the German-born sound engineer.
The ‘Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word’ singer – now married to partner David Furnish, with whom he has sons Zachary, nine, and Elijah, seven – explains that he and Blauel have had little contact since their separation.
That being said, Sir Elton invited her to meet his children because he “wanted her to be part of our lives and us part of hers, in some way.”
“But she didn’t want to,” he writes, adding: “And I didn’t want to push the issue. I have to respect how she feels.”
The Oscar-winning legend, who has a reported net worth of £360million, met Blauel in 1983 and they married the following year on Valentine’s Day in Australia.
The pair divorced four years later, with Sir Elton coming out as gay soon after.
In 2005, he went on to form a civil partnership with Furnish, then in 2014, they tied the knot at Windsor when same-sex marriage became legal in the UK.