A family court judge has drawn the 19-year marriage of former footballer Jamie Redknapp and his pop singer wife Louise to a close.
Judge Ian Mulkis granted a divorce decree at a hearing in the Central Family Court in London on Friday.
Neither Mr Redknapp, 44, a former Liverpool and Tottenham midfielder who now works as a television pundit, nor Mrs Redknapp, 43, were in court.
The judge granted a decree nisi – a marriage formally ends when judges grant decree absolute. A wife or husband can apply for a decree absolute six weeks after a decree nisi is granted.
The Redknapps married in 1998 on a luxury 130ft yacht called Lady Tamara in Bermuda.
The judge granted divorce decrees for the Redknapps and two other couples at a public hearing which lasted 25 seconds.
Four journalists were at the hearing but no members of the public.
Paperwork showed that Mrs Redknapp had filed for divorce and said the marriage had irretrievably broken down because of Mr Redknapp’s “unreasonable behaviour”.
Mr Redknapp had not mounted any defence to his wife’s divorce application.
Judge Mulkis held that Mr Redknapp had behaved in such a way that Mrs Redknapp could not “reasonably be expected” to live with him.
He concluded that the marriage had “broken down irretrievably”.
