Elton John’s ex-wife Renate Blauel sues singer for $5m for writing about marriage in memoirs

Renate Blauel is seeking a ‘mental harm payout’ after the star wrote about their four-year marriage in his autobiography.

Elton John and Renate Blauel‘s Wedding at St Mark’s Church in Sydney, on February 14, 1984. Picture: Getty

The former wife of Sir Elton John is suing him for $5 million and claims that comments in his autobiography led to “recurring nightmares”.

Renate Blauel has told the High Court that the book ruined her attempt to “shed her public identity” and had breached an agreement made in 1988 that their marriage was not to be publicly discussed.

The court papers submitted by Ms Blauel’s lawyers also claimed that the couple tried but failed to conceive during their marriage.

Her legal team said that a passage in Sir Elton’s autobiography, Me, Elton John, that said he had not wanted children until he married the Canadian filmmaker David Furnish was particularly painful for her. Ms Blauel, 67, was married to Sir Elton between 1984 and 1988 and subsequently sought to distance herself from the relationship by changing her name by deed poll and moving to another part of Britain.

She has also claimed that there are scenes in the award-winning 2019 film Rocketman that depicted their relationship in breach of their agreement.

Ms Blauel, a former sound engineer who married Sir Elton on Valentine’s Day, has told the court that numerous articles were written about their marriage after the film was released in May last year and the autobiography was published last October.

Singer and actress, Olivia Newton-John, and German recording engineer, Renate Blauel, at the wedding of Renate and Elton John. Picture: News Corp

She also told the court that an unidentified journalist tracked her down to her village. Lawyers for Sir Elton, 73, said that the singer denied breaching an agreement with his former wife and that any references he had made publicly to their marriage were already in the public domain. Ms Blauel is claiming damages of potentially $5 million and an injunction to restrain further commenting on her or the marriage.

Adam Wolanski, QC, for Ms Blauel, told the court that the publications have caused her mental harm. In documents Mr Wolanski submitted to the court, he said: “She has, since the release of the film, suffered recurring nightmares, agoraphobia, anxiety, depression, fear, and has had to relive her past constantly.

“The publication of the memoir exacerbated these symptoms. She has needed, and will continue to need, medical intervention and therapy.”

Sir Elton and Ms Blauel, who was born in Germany, met in 1983 and were married in Sydney at a wedding where the guests were said to have included the singer Olivia Newton-John and the former Wimbledon tennis champion John McEnroe.

Sir Elton married Furnish, 57, in 2014.

The Times