In 2019, a £4.5 billion "cross-border royal divorce case" was heard in the UK.
Princess Haya of Jordan, a 45-year-old princess of Dubai, fled to the UK with her children and €35 million in order to rebel against domestic violence and her daughter's arranged marriage.
Princess Haya and her children
In this tens of billions of divorce cases, the lawyer representing the case, Fiona Shackleton, has attracted more attention.
At every hearing, the elegant haute brand set, exquisite makeup and smart hairstyle, tonal heels and accessories seem to bring their own catwalk at any time.
The demeanor and professionalism set off by the generous manners and professionalism are not inferior to the princesses and princesses around them.
Princess Haya and attorney Fiona Shackleton
She is not only the designated lawyer of many wealthy businessmen and celebrities, but also the most expensive divorce lawyer in the world today.
In addition to royal family members such as Prince Charles and Prince Heandru of the United Kingdom, the clients also include Beatles member Paul McCartney and F1 heiress Petra Ecclestone.
She is also a personal lawyer for Prince William and Prince Harry.
But what really made her famous was the divorce war of the century for Charles and Diana.
The Iron Lady with abilities as a weapon
In 1996, commissioned by Prince Charles, Fiona was court-fought and eventually settled for £17 million and a divorce settlement was signed.
In addition to saving the British royal family a large amount of child support, she also used legal means to make Diana give up royal titles and privileges.
Diana and Charles
Although this battle made Fiona the focus of moral opinion, Diana herself admired her professional attitude.
After leaving the royal family, fiona was also given flowers and thank cards in her personal name.
Fiona Shackleton
In addition to this divorce case, Fiona has a more unknown classic case in her career.
When British billionaire William Hopkins divorced, the couple signed an agreement when their relationship broke.
The agreement states that in the event of a future division of property, the husband can dissolve the marriage by paying only a small part of the fees in the agreement.
However, at the time of the trial, the woman submitted that she was coerced when she signed this agreement and could not be used as a basis for the division of property.
Fiona, the lawyer representing her husband, played a key role in the courtroom.
She used facts and reasoning to finally determine that the woman was at the mercy of her own will when she signed the contract, was not coerced, and did not propose to amend the agreement before the marriage broke down.
Therefore, in this divorce case, the woman only received two properties worth a total of 830,000 pounds, another 200,000 pounds in cash, and her husband's pension was also half of hers.
Such a result is obviously far below the woman's needs, and she spent more than 300,000 pounds to hire a lawyer to fight the lawsuit.
In the end, she believed that she had not fulfilled her responsibilities by asking a lawyer to represent her, but instead took the lawyer to court.
Such results are rare in the UK, where London is also known as the "Mecca of Divorce".
Rich women all over the world will choose to divorce in the UK, mainly because of the British marriage law for women in the UK, there is no so-called "joint property of the spouses" concept, and it will not distinguish between premarital property and inherited inheritance after marriage.
English law holds that wealth creators and housewives contribute the same amount to the family, so even if you are a housewife, there is a high probability that you will receive half of your husband's property.
Another of Fiona's career highlights came from the scene of her divorce for Beatles member Paul McCartney.
Fiona Shackleton and Paul McCartney
McCartney's total personal assets as a world-class entertainer exceed £800 million, and in this case, his ex-wife Mills filed a £125 million divorce claim.
Fiona was based on facts, and with her super ability to debate, Mills only got 24.3 million pounds.
Annoyed, Mills poured a glass of water over Fiona's head.
But she calmly dried her hair to complete all the process.
The paparazzi who got the news and waited outside the court to take a picture of Fiona's embarrassment unexpectedly captured the state of the king who calmly walked out.
In this divorce case, the legal fee alone is 5 million pounds.
Afterwards, Mills spoke to the media as Fiona "the public enemy of all women."
Victory is justice
Fiona was born in London to a wealthy Kochi family to parents who were all finance-related executives.
Under an elite education, Fiona attended an aristocratic girls' school from an early age, and chose to major in law at the University of Exeter in college.
Choosing the law is unexpected.
Fiona's biggest major is medicine, and being a doctor is her dream.
The ideal failed to shine into reality, and her teacher explicitly told her that "it is not this piece of material."
She chose the law instead, and when she studied, she was confused and finally graduated with a third-class degree, and later her career as a lawyer was often ridiculed for this.
After graduating, she was interested in starting a restaurant business, and Fiona chose to go to Le Cordon Bleu for further training as a chef and served as a restaurant director for a star hotel for two years.
However, Fiona, who has always been quick to talk and logical, quickly tired of this kind of bland and unbreakable work.
Subsequently, at the age of 24, she obtained a lawyer's license and experienced the joy of the profession of lawyer in a divorce proceeding.
"To free both parties from a broken marriage in a legal form is the justice of a divorce lawyer"
Fiona, who has excellent negotiation skills, became a partner at the age of 28 at the royal law firm Farrer & Co.
In addition, she was named a Barrister of the British Crown, the highest level of the Uk bar.
At the age of 28, she had a double harvest of love and a career, and she married Ian Shackleton, a descendant of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton.
In 1996, while representing Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah in a divorce case, Fiona, who was in perfect control, repelled all the woman's unreasonable demands, and finally reached a financial settlement agreement for £3 million.
It was also from this time that Fiona's soaring value not only became a Conservative member of the House of Lords, but also became the best spokesperson for the British legal beauty.
"Unequal pay for equal work" is an appeal for women
Like all women, even "Iron Mulan" will encounter sexism.
In 2010, the Queen of England made Fiona a life nobleman and a baroness.
Fiona was not so happy about it, pointing out to the point that the "British aristocracy" was a form of sexism.
As a baron who was canonized by the royal family, she could only be called "baroness", and the title of baron could only be used by her alone until her death, and could not be hereditary.
In addition to bluntly speaking about discrimination against women by the aristocratic system, Fiona, a Conservative MP in the House of Lords, also actively called for a solution to the problem of "unequal pay for equal work" between men and women.
At Harper's Bazaar's London Summit, Fiona gave an example.
Once she was stolen from her purse on the street, the case record after calling the police wrote "Husband Ian Shackleton's property stolen".
She believes that this form of women's inability to prove themselves on their property is a gender insult.
She also noted the double standards for women in the workplace:
"Whenever women are negotiating, they are accused of being strong for the sake of making a splash, knowing that they are only fighting for their own interests. Instead of caring about this, it is better to care about equal pay for equal work in women's workplaces. "
"Some people think that women's jobs such as secretaries and nannies are not important, but they are inseparable from their work. Others think that women should teach their children at home, because their income is already pitiful. ”
Respecting all women and professions, she taught all "sexist" people in the UK a lesson.
The ageless Magnolia continues to bloom
In the past 40 years, Fiona's every "expedition" has been worthy of her title of Iron Lady.
The impeccable set of defense theories and meticulous and untenable chains of evidence impressed her opponents and clients.
The "Dubai Princess Divorce Case" is one of the most expensive and controversial divorce cases in the history of the United Kingdom, and it is still being tried today.
The 64-year-old Fiona will continue to use the courtroom as a stage for personal display, and excellent business ability and careful preparation will continue to appear.
With the gentleness and charm of women as the armor, with a professional working attitude as the scale, the "Iron Mulan" who is not afraid of the threat of age will continue to stand in the courtroom with the best posture.
Her existence proves that women not only have love and family, but also that female elites can coexist with gentleness and strength.