Former INXS manager wins £1.2m divorce fight with SAS husband given £26.7m by her parents

A BUSINESSWOMAN who once managed rocker Michael Hutchence has overturned a court order to pay her ex £1.2million after finding that her superrich family had "gifted" him £26.7million.

- Richard Gittins

Maria-Christina Copinger-Symes is part of the Perez De La Sala dynasty, which made £550million-plus in shipping.

She wed SAS Major James CopingerSymes in 1998 and they set up home with their four children in a house in Chelsea thought to be worth more than £3million.

The pair split in 2022 and Ms CopingerSymes agreed to pay him £1.2million, leaving her with up to £5million.

She later learned her estranged parents Bobby and Felicite Perez De La Sala had sided with her former husband, called her Judas and cut her out of their wills.

Central Family Court Judge Edward Hess ruled the divorce's financial fallout must be reconsidered. Ms Copinger-Symes now wants her ex to pay her £14million.

Blood

He said the couple's proceedings were held against the background of her family having very negative feelings about her and very positive ones about her ex "very much an exception to the normal rule that 'blood is thicker than water'."