Gayle puts a ring back on it
‘Separated’ from Dunne – but seen in London with wedding band
SHE should have celebrated 13 years of marriage this year – but instead Gayle Killilea told the High Court in May that she had legally separated from her husband, Seán Dunne.
But Ms Killilea was seen sporting her diamond engagement and wedding band in London earlier this month.
The rings were nowhere to be seen when she told the High Court in May that she and her husband had legally separated.
The socialite, who now lives in the English countryside, was in the City of London, where she caught up with some old friends, fashion designers Karen Millen and Ian Galvin.
Dangling from her arm was the season’s must-have Chanel Boy handbag in salmon, which costs around €6,000.
Her feet, which have trod a well-worn path to various courts around the world, were clad in Valentino Rockstud stilettos, which cost about €700.
But it was the return of her rock that set tongues wagging, as she had stated just weeks before that her marriage to developer Mr Dunne had ended.
She appeared in the High Court in May to challenge the basis for an injunction preventing her reducing her assets below €50m.
Ms Killilea was pictured looking less couture and without her ring as she told the court that she had split from the father of her four children.
In an affidavit to the High Court, she said: ‘Ms Killilea is a businesswoman in her own right and Mr Dunne owes her and her children a lot of money.’
She said she had produced evidence to show Mr Dunne transferred ownership of Walford, a large home on Shrewsbury Road in Dublin 4, to her in 2005 long before he was declared bankrupt in 2013 over default on some €164m in loans to Ulster Bank.
Ms Killilea does appear intent on pursuing her interests as a property developer. In March this year she registered a new company, Cliffe Dekker Homes, with Companies House in the UK using her married name, Gayle Dunne.
She holds a 75% interest in the company and lists her occupation as ‘real estate developer’.
Her partner in the business, operating from the exclusive Hampstead area of London, is named as James Ryan.
Former gossip columnist Ms Killilea married Mr Dunne in July 2004 in a wedding reported to have cost more than €1.5m. They initially quietly exchanged vows on a beach on Thailand, but they went on to celebrate in style with a sumptuous party on board the Christina O yacht.
Designers Mr Galvin and Ms Millen were guests at her wedding, with reports that Ms Millen designed one of the bride’s gowns.
In recent years the couple have been battling with banks and Nama, leading to legal wrangles across the world.
The couple have announced splits on two occasions now.
The Irish Mail on Sunday reported in 2010 that they had separated, but they revealed that they had reconciled two years later. They subsequently had another baby.
The 2010 revelations by the MoS came after years of speculation about the state of the marriage between the ex-millionaire and the ex-journalist, who is 21 years his junior.
The reconciliation in 2012 was the year before the couple welcomed their fourth child – but as recently as September 2014 Ms Killilea insisted to a South African court that they were no longer living together.
The season’s must-have Chanel handbag Legal wrangles across the world