Sir Elton John’s ex-wife Renate Blauel launches legal action against him

Sir Elton John’s ex-wife Renate Blauel who divorced singer in 1988 launches legal action against him seeking High Court injunction

  • Elton John’s ex-wife Renate Blauel has launched legal proceedings at High Court
  • She filed legal paperwork last week to seek an injunction against the singer
  • Blauel met Sir Elton while he was recording his album Too Low for Zero in 1983
  • She has kept a low public profile since the couple divorce some five years later 

Sir Elton John’s ex-wife has launched legal proceedings against him at the High Court.  

German-born Renate Blauel, who has managed to avoid to public spotlight for decades, filed legal paperwork last week to seek an injunction against the singer, the Guardian reports. 

Blauel’s lawyer did not tell the publication why she was taking action against her ex-husband, who is named as the defendant in the legal filings, but said she hoped to ‘resolve it amicably’. 

The reason for the application is not yet known, but injunction’s are often pursued in matters relating to privacy, or to stop material being made public.  

Blauel, a sound engineer, met Sir Elton while he was recording his album Too Low for Zero in 1983. 

They married in a traditional ceremony in Sydney’s St Mark’s church on Valentine’s Day in 1984. Sir Elton was 36 at the time, and the couple was in Australia for his Too Low For Zero tour. 

Elton John and Renate Blauel married in a traditional ceremony in Sydney’s St Mark’s church on Valentine’s Day in 1984. Sir Elton was 36 at the time, and the couple was in Australia for his Too Low For Zero tour

In 2014 Sir Elton married long-term partner David Furnish, who he had been in a civil partnership with for nine years

In 2014 Sir Elton married long-term partner David Furnish, who he had been in a civil partnership with for nine years

It had been a whirlwind romance for the singer and Ms Blauel, who had met in a London recording studio. 

It wasn’t until 1988 that Sir Elton announced he was openly gay – around the same time the couple divorced. 

Blauel has kept a low public profile since the split, but in Sir Elton’s 2019 autobiography he revealed the pain he felt separating from Blauel as he struggled to accept his sexuality. 

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.’7

In 2014 Sir Elton married long-term partner David Furnish, who he had been in a civil partnership with for nine years.  

It wasn't until 1988 that Sir Elton announced he was openly gay - around the same time the couple divorced (pictured: Elton John performs at Mt Smart Stadium on February 16, 2020 in Auckland, New Zealand)

It wasn’t until 1988 that Sir Elton announced he was openly gay – around the same time the couple divorced (pictured: Elton John performs at Mt Smart Stadium on February 16, 2020 in Auckland, New Zealand)

Left to right: David Furnish, Elijah Furnish-John, Zachary Furnish-John, and Sir Elton John attend the 23rd Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party on February 22, 2015 in Los Angeles, California

Left to right: David Furnish, Elijah Furnish-John, Zachary Furnish-John, and Sir Elton John attend the 23rd Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party on February 22, 2015 in Los Angeles, California

The couple have two sons – Zachary and Elijah. Earlier this year he insisted he would never shout or hit either son if they misbehaved, and instead always endeavour to use calm words and discussion. 

Sir Elton, whose temper was a feature of the 1997 documentary Tantrums & Tiaras, said he did not want the boys, aged nine and seven, to endure the ‘fearful’ childhood that he experienced as a boy.

Sir Elton wrote that he did not have much contact with Blauel after the separation, but when he became a parent he invited her to his home so she could meet them, but she declined. 

‘I didn’t push the issue,’ he wrote. ‘I have to respect how she feels.’