Sharon Corr’s ex dating Queen of Spain’s sister after end of marriage
SHARON Corr and her husband Gavin Bonnar have separated after 18 years of marriage.
The relationship between the musician and the highprofile barrister ended in recent months, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Spain’s newspapers may be full of news of General Franco’s exhumation, but for the country’s glossy magazines only one story has everyone talking: that the Belfast-born barrister has since found love again with the sister of the Queen of Spain, Telma Ortiz.
Mr Bonnar and Ms Ortiz were first photographed together by the Spanish magazine Hola! back in August.
They made their first official public appearance as a couple last week when they attended the Princess of Asturias awards in Spain.
Ms Ortiz and Mr Bonnar had their photograph taken with Telma’s sister, Queen Letizia, and her daughters, Princess Leonor and the infant Sofia, in a clear sign that Mr Bonnar has received a warm welcome into the upper echelons of Spanish royalty.
In recent weeks, the relationship has been attracting intense interest in the Spanish media, due to the fact that Ms Ortiz’s sister, Letizia, is married to King Felipe.
When Letizia, a commoner, married Prince Felipe in May 2004, the former journalist became a regular in the pages of Spain’s gossip magazines and took her unsuspecting family members with her.
However, none has garnered as much attention as Telma. For years, the brunette, who was divorced from her husband Jaime del Burgo in 2016, lived and worked as an overseas aid worker in Manila in the Philippines.
Since she moved back to Spain, her daily life — from her trips on the back of a motorcycle to her beauty regime — has been pored over by the press.
Following the musician’s split from her husband, a source close to the former couple said “their children and their privacy are their number one priority”.
It is understood a lawyer has been contacted about protecting the children’s privacy after details about them appeared in a number of Spanish media outlets.
The news will come as a shock to people who know the couple from Dublin’s social circles.
The pair tied the knot in 2001 in Church of St John, Cratloe, Co Clare after Sharon had shot to international fame with The Corrs, alongside siblings Jim, Caroline and Andrea.
In 2006 the band, who have sold more than 40m albums worldwide, went on an extended hiatus to spend time with their families and pursue solo careers.
In 2012 Ms Corr and Mr Bonnar left Ireland to live in Andorra.
Mr Bonnar, an established lawyer, founded RGB Corporate in 2014, where he is now CEO. He is a fluent Spanish speaker and his work extends to Dublin, London, Cape Town, Barcelona and Madrid. Most recently he has been writing articles in the Spanish press about the impact of Brexit.
The couple moved to Madrid last year and rented a luxury apartment in the Spanish capital. In an interview in 2018, Sharon told Vanity Fair how she had fallen in love with her new surroundings. The award-winning musician has become a welcome face in the city’s thriving social scene. When contacted by the Sunday Independent for comment, neither Ms Corr nor Mr Bonnar were available.