Viking Cruises founder in multi-million pound divorce battle
The multi-millionaire founder of Viking Cruises, Torstein Hagen, is fighting a bitter battle in a London divorce court.
He and his wife Ellen-Karine Hagen have already run up almost £10 million in legal fees between them.
The couple, both in their 70s, have each engaged a team of lawyers – including four barristers each – at a cost of almost £100,000 a day. The trial, which began yesterday, is expected to last nearly three weeks.
Mrs Justice Roberts is considering the evidence at a private hearing, but she said the Hagens could be named and some details made public.
Mrs Hagen is fighting for half of her husband’s fortune, which was not disclosed.
The Hagens’ adult children are also caught up in the divorce battle and have their own legal teams.
Lewis Marks QC, who is leading Mr Hagen’s legal team, told the judge the case was a tragedy ‘of which Shakespeare or Euripides would have been proud’ and said the family was in a ‘vortex of conflict’. He said the ‘main protagonists’ were ‘nearing the end of their lives’ and the children had been ‘dragged’ into a dispute about their prospective inheritance, according to MailOnline.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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