‘Homemaker’ ex-wife of Laura Ashley boss wins £64m payout
A FORMER Malaysian beauty queen has been awarded a £64 million divorce payout after a bitter legal battle which her lawyer has described as a victory for the “homemaker”.
A High Court judge ruled yesterday that Pauline Chai, 70, should receive the huge settlement – one of the largest in history – after 42 years’ marriage to the chairman of the Laura Ashley fashion business.
Legal costs alone had already reached more than £6 million a year ago. The final bill will easily exceed that sum.
Ms Chai, who was Miss Malaysia in 1969, had demanded half of her former husband Khoo Kay Peng’s £205 million fortune. She insisted she had made an equal contribution by fulfilling her role as a “traditional” wife. Dr Khoo, 78, the non-executive chairman of Laura Ashley Holdings, had wanted to give her just £9 million following their split on Valentine’s Day 2013.
The settlement, announced by Mr Justice Bodey, will be seen as striking a blow in favour of stay-at-home wives.
“He is the breadwinner and I stayed at home and looked after the children,” Ms Chai told an earlier hearing.
Ms Chai, who lives in a £30 million mansion in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, had married Dr Khoo, who is also Malaysian, in 1970 and the couple had five children. The legal costs began to escalate when Dr Khoo fought – and lost – a bid to have the divorce decided in the Malaysian courts where Ms Chai’s settlement would have been far less favourable.
She won the right to have the case heard in London, arguing the Hertfordshire mansion, where she stored her collection of a thousand pairs of shoes in bedrooms, a corridor and the basement, was their main home.
Mr Justice Bodey’s detailed ruling on who gets what is expected to be pub- lished in the near future. He had analysed the case at a private hearing but said journalists could name Dr Khoo and Ms Chai and report some information. The judge has barred reporters from revealing confidential financial material.
Divorce lawyer Ayesha Vardag, who represented Ms Chai, said: “This litigation has been long and arduous. It is a journey which has now ended in the affirmation of the principle of fair sharing. It emphasises that there is no place in England for discrimination between homemaker and breadwinner.”