Aristocrat reports estranged wife to police for BIGAMY saying she never told him of secret marriage
Aristocrat reports his estranged wife to police for BIGAMY and accuses her of being married to another man when she married him as she asks for £10k-a-month in divorce
- Aristocrat Charles Villiers, 57, has reported estranged wife to police for bigamy
- He claims wife of 18 years, Emma Villiers, 61, never told him of secret marriage
- The couple are at the centre of landmark Supreme Court ‘divorce tourism’ case
An aristocrat at the centre of a landmark divorce case has reported his estranged wife to police for bigamy.
Charles Villiers, 57, who is related to the Duchess of Cornwall, claimed his wife of 18 years never told him of her secret marriage and did not divorce before marrying him.
The former publisher, who has previously accused his wife Emma Villiers, 61, of ‘divorce tourism’ has now accused her of being a bigamist and reported her to Scotland’s chief constable.
Aristocrat Charles Villiers, 57, has accused his estranged wife of being a bigamist. Pictured: With his new love Heidi Innes, an opera singer he met in 2017, at their home in Tyninghame East Lothian
Mr Villiers claims to have ‘compelling’ evidence that he believes that Mrs Villiers is still secretly married to an unknown man.
He alleges that his wife told him of her first marriage, to the late John Edward Brown in the 1980s, but never disclosed her second marriage before walking down the aisle with him.
Mrs Villiers has denied the accusations and described them as ‘outrageous and entirely false’.
Emma Villiers, 61, (right) with daughter Clarissa (left). Mrs Villiers has denied the accusations of bigamy and described them as ‘outrageous and entirely false’
The couple were married in 1994 and lived in Scotland in a Georgian mansion with a private loch for the bulk of their 18-year marriage before they separated in 2012.
After their separation, Mrs Villiers moved to London with their daughter Clarissa and Mr Villiers filed for divorce in Scotland in 2014 .
The pair became the centre of a landmark divorce case after Mrs Villiers pursued a financial settlement in England, where the courts are perceived as being more generous to wives.
In July, the aristocrat lost the Supreme Court case to have his £5 million divorce battle heard in a Scottish court and not an English one.
The Supreme Court ruled his wife could proceed with her £10,000-a-month maintenance application in England as the divorce proceedings in Scotland and the maintenance proceesings in England were not related.
Mr Villiers’ late mother was cousin to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, pictured with Prince Charles
Police are examining the new allegations of bigamy, which if true could result in a maximum sentence of two years in prison in Scotland.
Mr Villiers told The Times: ‘This matter is of sufficient seriousness that it would not have been appropriate for me to go to my local police station.
‘I have been advised my complaint is now in the hands of the East Lothian area commander of Police Scotland.
‘I am relieved they are taking it seriously because bigamy is a serious offence.’
Mr Villiers’ late mother, Elizabeth Keppel, was cousin to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and has a right to a share of his family’s £3.5 million trust fund.