Model’s fight for a £15m bling ring

AFTER fighting one of the most high-profile and bitterly contested divorce battles in British legal history, Christina Estrada would be forgiven for never wanting to see a courtroom again.

But the former supermodel – who won a £75million settlement from oil billionaire Walid Juffali – has been embroiled in a fresh challenge to reclaim a £15 million blue diamond ring from her ex-husband’s family.

The German-Saudi tycoon died from cancer just weeks after last year’s divorce hearing, leading to more fights over his assets. Ms Estrada believes the ring, made by Chopard, is in the possession of Walid’s third wife, Loujain Adada, whom he wed while still married to Christina, as Saudi law allows polygamy. Walid originally gave the ring to Christina in 2004. But she says when the marriage began to founder in 2011, Walid removed it for ‘safe keeping’ and promised he would return it. This never happened and he later denied it had ever been a gift. Remarkably, given its value, Walid claimed during the divorce hearing that the ring had been put in one of his safes, but that he couldn’t find it.

After being told to hand it over, he did discover it, and vowed to return it to US-born Christina, who now lives in Surrey, but died before he could.

She has now filed a High Court writ against his widow seeking its return.

No defence has been filed, but last night Ms Estrada’s lawyers said the issue had been resolved – although they declined to say if the ring had been returned.