Elton John’s ex-wife, Renate Blauel, breaks decades of silence to file high court injunction against the gay icon
Elton John and Renate Blauel on their wedding day in 1984 (Patrick Riviere/Getty)
The ex-wife of Elton John, Renate Blauel, has launched legal proceedings against the “Rocketman” singer at Britain’s High Court.
Blauel, 67, shattered her decadeslong silence on her brittle marriage to the singer as she filed paperwork last week to the courts and seeking an injunction against him, according to filings seen by The Guardian.
The German-born sound engineer met John in 1983, who was working on his comeback album Too Low for Zero. The pair were married for four years before the turbulent relationship fizzled out with John’s announcement that he is gay, divorcing in 1988.
Renate Blauel aims to handle court proceedings ‘amicably’.
According to the documents familiar to the paper, the reason for the abrupt legal action taken is unclear, but Blauel’s legal counsel is “hoping to resolve it amicably”.
John married partner David Furnish in a civil partnership in 2005 following a 12-year relationship. Since having two sons together, their light basking in the warm glow of John’s spotlight is a stark contrast to that of his ex-wife.
(Georges De Keerle/Getty Images)
Indeed, it’s an unexpected cascade of events, no doubt, for John, who is named as the defendant in the legal filing. For years, Blauel has shied away from the spotlight, all while John rocketed upwards.
Elton John: ‘I denied who I really was, which caused my wife sadness.’
Nevertheless, Blauel broke the silence just less than a year after John dropped his autobiography, in which he expressed, in a hairplugs-and-all detail the gruelling experience of filing for divorce from Blauel.
“I’d broken the heart of someone I loved and who loved me unconditionally, someone I couldn’t fault in any way,” he wrote.
“Despite all the pain, there was no acrimony involved at all.
“For years afterwards, whenever something happened to me, the press would turn up on her doorstep, looking for her to dish the dirt, and she never, ever has: she told them to leave her alone.”
But John himself veiled their relationship in silence for years, too, only really speaking out in 2017 in an Instagram post. Calling on Australian citizens to vote for marriage equality, he reflected on the time he married Blauel in the country.
“Many years ago, I chose Australia for my wedding to a wonderful woman for whom I have so much love and admiration,” he wrote.
“I wanted more than anything to be a good husband, but I denied who I really was, which caused my wife sadness, and caused me huge guilt and regret.
“To be worthy of someone’s love, you have to be brave enough and clear eyed enough to be honest with yourself and your partner.”
