‘Broke’ Barclay accused of reneging on £100m divorce bill

Property and publishing tycoon Sir Frederick Barclay has been accused of reneging on his £100m divorce settlement. Lady Hiroko Barclay, his estranged wife, appeared in London’s High Court on Monday seeking to have her ex-husband sent to prison for contempt of court after allegedly breaching the settlement. In May 2021 in the High Court, Justice Jonathan Cohen ordered Barclay to pay £50m of the £100m divorce settlement last year, and the remaining £50m in April. Sir Frederick, the former owner of the Ritz Hotel, has said he is unable to pay the bill as all of his wealth is tied up in investments. His lawyers added that his “abject fear of prison” was motivating him to comply, but assets could not be sold because they were shared with other family members. His lawyers said he could not even pay the legal fees, now amounting to almost £500m, because of a lack of “liquidity” in his assets. Earlier this year he was evicted from his £25m townhouse in St James’s in central London, which boasted its own ballroom. At the heart of the divorce battle are three main assets: loan notes held in trust which Lady Hiroko’s lawyers say are worth £545m; Sir Frederick’s half-share of the Channel island of Brecqhou; and his share in any settlement that resulted from a row over being bugged by his nephews during the sale of the Ritz Hotel in 2020. Lady Hiroko said he could get whatever money he wanted but was withholding it from her. She has accused him of transferring all his wealth to his daughter and to a complex series of trusts “in order to avoid paying any tax”. Barclay owns a 50% stake in a vast estate on the private island of Brecqhou in the Channel Islands, but the document added: “There is no prospect of a sale/transfer to the wider Barclay family.” The FT (£) The Guardian