Sue Vanner, the actress who became famous for her role as a seductive Russian spy who lay naked under a pile of furs with Roger Moore in The Spy Who Loved Me, has reportedly hired King Charles’s divorce lawyers after her husband, property tycoon Warren Todd, left her for another woman. The Daily Mail disclosed in 2019 that Warren, who owns properties in London’s most expensive areas, including Notting Hill and Holland Park, left Vanner, 71, to pursue a relationship with his pregnant girlfriend, Anya. Since then, she has had two children. As a result, he moved out of the £10 million mansion he shared with Vanner near David and Victoria Beckham’s home in Holland Park. It is believed that Warren now lives in a smaller house around the corner with his new girlfriend, who is rumored to be Eastern European.
Vanner has hired Payne Hicks Beach, the law firm of which Baroness Shackleton is a partner, who represented King Charles and Paul McCartney in their high-profile divorces. In August 1996, after a lengthy battle, lawyers finally agreed on the terms of the high-profile divorce between Then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana. It’s reported that Diana’s divorce settlement included a lump sum of £17 million ($20 million) at the time, along with an additional £400,000 a year. Charles and Diana agreed to share custody of their two boys, and Diana continued to live at Kensington Palace. A former adviser to Charles told The Sunday Times that despite the “wipeout” of his £17 million divorce settlement to Diana, he worked hard to accumulate funds, saying, “He became prudent, tucking away some money from the Duchy after that wipeout.
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According to their website, divorce lawyers at Payne Hicks Beach “act for and against a wide variety of individuals including celebrities, members of royal families, aristocrats, entrepreneurs, sports and entertainment stars, business owners and city professionals. Our divorce lawyers are regularly involved in high-profile cases at all levels and are well known for their discretion and skill in managing unwanted media attention. Our in-house reputation management team enables us to deal with media attention swiftly and effectively.” The law firm notes, “We are sensitive to the highly personal issues involved and are able to recommend suitably qualified professional counsellors and mediators, where appropriate.”
“Sue is devastated,” a close friend told the outlet at the time. “After 32 years of happy marriage, Warren’s made decisions, during a very serious mid-life crisis, which have broken up their family.” Warren is 16 years younger than Vanner, with whom he has a son, Ryan. Warren’s stepmother, U.S. reality star Lisa Vanderpump, has admitted that the age difference initially worried him and his father, Ken Todd. Vanderpump told the outlet, “When Warren first met Sue, the age difference, the secrecy that had transpired, was not something we supported. But I learned a very valuable lesson — when our children make a choice, remember our opinions and influence are pretty much redundant.” She explained that, after a few years, “we would have to admit we were wrong.” Vanderpump described Warren as having had a “hard” start to life since his father, Ken, raised him alone after a brief marriage when he was 19. According to Daily Mail, Vanderpump wrote on her blog, “Warren is very much his father’s son — ambitious, incredibly family-oriented, and someone to be proud of.” Regarding her husband, she added, “One of the many reasons that I fell in love with Ken was the kindness he exuded. We met when Warren was 15 and I was 21. He [Ken] was married briefly for two years at 19 to a young wife who wasn’t prepared for the challenging job of being a mother. So he then fought for custody of their only child. He worked many jobs laboring, night jobs, anything to provide for his son, and, with the help of his mother, he raised an educated, well-mannered young man. Life was hard at the beginning. But with sheer tenacity and some sort of innovative business sense, he created a life for his family (including his parents) that otherwise they wouldn’t have had.”
The young Warren followed his father’s leadership in business and also his lead in love. With only five years between them, his marriage to Vanderpump’s friend Vanner was no different. Their mutual connections led them to meet, but the couple kept their romance a secret from Warren’s step-parents. She disclosed the tensions surrounding the secretive relationship while starring on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She told cameras, per Daily Mail: “Warren who was very young at the time he met Sue who was my friend.” Vanderpump added: “It was a rocky start. I was friends of Sue, and I didn’t know that they were together. Being with my stepson was difficult.” In 2019, Vanner appeared on ITV’s Lorraine to discuss finding strength in music following her bitter breakup. Lorraine said, “It’s a sad reason for you to go back into the music business… 32 years and he’s gone off with someone else, and that’s really hard.” Vanner replied, “It’s really hard, but I’m a fighter, so I decided to go back into my music.” She is currently recording a new album in an opulent St Tropez villa she owns with Warren.
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