Russian beauty queen Ekaterina Fields wins £3.3m payout in 'boxing match' divorce battle

The judge called the figures 'eye-watering'

Ekaterina Fields leaving the High Court 4 June (NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images)

Calling a bitter divorce battle a “boxing match”, a judge has given a former beauty queen a £3.3 million pay-out.

Mr Justice Holman also said that the £1 million Russian-born Ekaterina Fields and her husband Richard spent on legal bills “could have been better deployed” at the High Court yesterday.

He said that Mrs Fields, 42, should be given a £1.2 million lump sum and £320,000 a year in maintenance as her share of the couple's £6 million fortune. Mr Fields is left with £2.6 million and their apartment in New York.

The judge called the figures “eye-watering”, but said they had to be seen in the context of the lifestyle they enjoyed together.

The couple have two young children and Mrs Fields wanted £50,000 for nannies and staff, as well as £75,000 a year for holidays.

Following the judgement, according to The Daily Telegraph, Mrs Fields, said: “It will, understandably, take some time to absorb today’s judgement. After a difficult and lengthy fight to rightfully safeguard my children’s future I am hopeful that I can look forward to a bright and positive future.”

“The key aspect of my claim has been to ensure I can raise my two children appropriately and I need to assess whether the judgement will enable me to do that.”

She added her case “highlighted the difficulty mothers and children have securing what they are rightly entitled to in a divorce settlement”.

The judge said: “What I sincerely hope is that each of you take away the lesson of this bruising experience. It was a boxing match. It wasn’t edifying."

In a case which the judge said should have been easy to settle and could have avoided the publicity, the pair spent in excess of £1 million on legal expenses.

“Instead they have spent over £1 million in legal costs… That £1 million could have been better deployed in meeting their respective needs and aspirations,” said Mr Justice Holman, according to The Evening Standard.