Aga Khan challenges his own divorce settlement

01/10/2012

The Aga Khan has delayed his own nuptials to glamorous divorcée Beatrice von der Schulenburg after challenging the settlement of his last divorce and, technically, making him unable to marry again yet.

It had been thought that the Aga Khan, who is the spiritual leader of the world's 12 million Ismaeli Muslims, had finally hashed out an agreement with his second wife, the Begum Inaara. After years of wranglings, it was believed that the former couple had come to a settlement, in which he had to pay her some £54 million.

Writing for the UK's Daily Mail newspaper, the reporter Richard Kay has claimed, however, that Prince Karim Aga Khan IV has decided to challenge the ruling that had been reported settled in French courts in September 2011. He apparently wants to have the case heard in France's highest court, the Cour de Cassation, which will put a delay of eight to 12 months on the finality of the divorce.

The challenge has left observers puzzled as to why he has decided to contest the settlement with his estranged wife. The Begum Inaara was known as Princess Gabriele zu Leiningen, the daughter of German entrepreneurs, and she lived in England with the couple's son, Aly, until last year when she moved to Switzerland. As well as the money, the settlement would also allow her to retain her title of Her Highness the Begum Aga Khan.

The Aga Khan fought to have the divorce heard in France as a settlement made in the UK would have been considerably higher.