Elton John’s ex-wife Renate Blauel tells court of honeymoon suicide attempt after Sydney wedding

Just days after their Sydney wedding. Sir Elton John told Renate Blauel their marriage wasn’t working.

Elton John and Renate Blaulel at their Sydney wedding in 1984. Blaulel is suing Sir Elton claiming he breached an agreement not to discuss their marriage in public with the publication of his autobiography and the 2019 film Rocketman. Picture: Patrick Riviere/Getty Images)

Sir Elton John’s former wife has claimed that she tried to kill herself three days into their honeymoon after the singer said their marriage was not working.

Renate Blauel is suing Sir Elton for $AU5.48m.

She claims that he breached an agreement not to discuss their marriage in public with the publication of his autobiography and the 2019 film Rocketman.

Ms Blauel, 67, said in a court document released on Tuesday that Sir Elton, 73, was aware of her battles with depression, which included an anxiety attack while they hosted a lunch for members of the royal family.

Sir Elton said that his former wife’s allegations had been made to “extract a large sum of money … and tarnish his name with falsehoods”.

Ms Blauel, who married Sir Elton in Sydney on Valentine’s Day in 1984, said that they were accompanied on their honeymoon to St Tropez by the star’s manager, John Reid, and personal assistant, Bob Halley.

Singer Elton John during his wedding ceremony to Renate Blauel in Sydney on Valentine’s Day, 1984. Picture: News Corp

“Three days into the honeymoon, and without any forewarning, [Sir Elton] told [Ms Blauel] that the marriage was not working and that he wanted her to leave the property and return to England,” the [London] High Court document alleges.

No hospital visit

Ms Blauel said she took an overdose of prescription drugs and was found unconscious by Mr Halley. When Sir Elton was told about the overdose he “became angry” and did not visit his bride during her two days in hospital.

Ms Blauel, a former sound engineer, said that during the marriage she suffered from anxiety, particularly when attending public events. She said that she had a panic attack at Sir Elton’s Windsor mansion when the film director Brian Forbes and Nanette Newman, his actress wife, visited before a planned dinner at a restaurant. Newman found her in her dressing room hyperventilating and crying.

English singer-songwriter Elton John, right, and his husband Canadian producer David Furnish pose on the red carpet upon arriving for the UK premiere of the film Rocketman in London on May 20, 2019. Picture: Adrian Dennis/AFP

Agreement to not discuss marriage

Sir Elton and Ms Blauel hosted a lunch for members of the royal family in about 1985. When Princess Margaret asked Ms Blauel about a painting belonging to Sir Elton she could not recall any details and, in a panic, interrupted her husband’s conversation with the Queen Mother before leaving the room. “It must have been obvious to him that she had absented herself because of her anxiety,” the court document said. Ms Blauel claims that Sir Elton should have known that she could suffer psychiatric harm with the revelations about their marriage.

Public interest drove her back to therapy

They had agreed not to discuss their marriage after their divorce in 1988, with Ms Blauel saying that she had sought to shed her identity as a pop star’s wife and live a quiet life. She says that her former husband’s discussion of their relationship in his book Me and scenes in the biopic had led to renewed public interest in her.

Adam Wolanski, QC, representing Ms Blauel, said she had suffered “nightmares, agoraphobia, anxiety, depression, fear, and has had to relive her past constantly”. She had spent $AU21,000 on therapy, two psychiatrists and a psychotherapist because of the disclosures.

Ms Blauel says that the legal agreement prevents Sir Elton referring to matters relating to the marriage and the reasons for the separation even if they were already in the public domain. She is seeking an injunction preventing future editions, reprints or adaptations of Sir Elton’s memoirs from discussing their marriage.

Elton and David Furnish marriage

Sir Elton confirmed in 1992 that he was gay and entered a civil partnership with David Furnish, 57, in 2005. They married in 2014 and have two sons.

Colin West, QC, Sir Elton’s barrister, said that the singer denies breaching the terms of the divorce agreement or knowing Ms Blauel was susceptible to mental health issues. She had not complained when he spoke about their marriage in the past and correspondence between them since their divorce had been “warm and friendly”.

Sir Elton says his former wife’s allegations had been made to “extract a large sum of money … and tarnish his name with falsehoods”. Picture by Damian Shaw

The clause in the divorce agreement could only have been intended to prevent discussion of confidential matters, not common knowledge like Sir Elton’s sexuality, Mr West said.

“Given the fact that [Sir Elton] is gay has entered the public domain without any breach of the agreement, the reasons for separation have to that extent also entered the public domain without any breach of the agreement and have thereby lost any confidential character they might otherwise have had,” he said. “None of the disclosures about which [Ms Blauel] complains concern matters which are in fact — or are any longer — private and confidential.”

The hearing continues.

The Times