Society’s most acrimonious marriage breakup: Aristocratic reality TV star Lady Isabella Hervey accuses her husband of being a brutal wife-beater
In society’s most dramatic marriage breakdown, aristocratic reality TV star Lady Isabella Hervey accuses her husband of brutally beating his wife.
After the birth of her first child, Lady Isabella Hervey reflected: “I have always had a fairytale dream of a happy married life, and now that fairytale dream has come true.”
That fairytale has now turned into a terrifying nightmare, says the former reality TV star.
Lady Isabella, the 41-year-old sister of the Marquess of Bristol, claims her husband, Belgian businessman Christophe de Pauw, is a wife beater.
Among the painful injuries he is alleged to have inflicted on her was a blow in hospital after the birth of her daughter, which left Lady Isabella with a fractured skull.
Lady Isabella, the 41-year-old sister of the Marquess of Bristol, claims her husband beats her
Lady Isabella and husband Christophe De Pauw at the Ivy Garden in Chelsea, May 2016
Lady Isabella Hervey’s injuries, published by her sister Lady Victoria on social media, claiming to have been caused by Christophe de Pauw.
Her sister Lady Victoria Hervey, 47, a friend of Prince Andrew, shocked friends this week by posting a series of graphic photographs of her injuries online.
In one photo, she has swelling and bruising under her eye.
Her sister Lady Victoria Hervey, 47, a friend of Prince Andrew, shocked friends this week by posting a series of graphic photographs of Lady Isabella’s injuries online. In one photo she has swelling and bruising under her eye.
Lady Isabella tells me: “There are many more images and videos, but the worst for me was the mental abuse. All this happened around my children and mainly before their eyes. Boys of six and seven years old treat me the same way as their father. It’s very frustrating.”
In August I reported that Lady Isabella had separated from de Paul after ten years of marriage.
She previously rose to fame through appearances on TV shows and was named one of the sexiest women in the world by FHM magazine after starring in Celebrity Love Island. After winning Channel 4’s The Games, she found solace in cycling and recently represented Great Britain at the UCI World Championships in Glasgow.
The couple originally lived in Belgium, but Lady Isabella is now in Portugal with her children. “I didn’t want to make it all public because I’m a private person, but this year things got worse and worse,” she tells me. She says she has filed police reports against her husband in both Belgium and Portugal.
Her sister also claims that her brother-in-law cheated on Lady Isabella.
“Christophe de Pauw should be imprisoned,” Lady Victoria declares. “He’s a serial abuser. He cheated on my sister and then punished her for it. He hit my sister after she gave birth to her third child. At the hospital she was punched and suffered a fractured skull. It has gotten to the point where we can no longer remain silent.”
Lady Isabella’s family lost their ancestral seat, Ickworth in Suffolk, to the self-destructive spectacle of her elder half-brother John, 7th Marquess, who died aged 44.
He spent £35 million on helicopters, heroin and other entertainment. Meanwhile, her half-brother, Lord Nicholas Hervey, committed suicide at the age of 36.
De Pauw declines to comment.