Kirsty Bertarelli – whose family set up Stoke-on-Trent’s Churchill China – found love again after being awarded £350m in her divorce settlement
Kirsty Bertarelli, 54, has been left devastated after he boyfriend Marc(Image: Kirsty Bertarelli/Instagram)
A Staffordshire-born former beauty queen who became the UK’s wealthiest divorcee after receiving £350 million has been left heartbroken after her new boyfriend’s death.
Kirsty Bertarelli, from Stone, has been left reeling after her partner Marc suffered a stroke and died. The 54-year-old – whose dad and her uncles owned Sandyford pottery manufacturer Churchill China – earned the title after walking away with the huge sum from her Swiss-Italian billionaire husband Ernesto Bertarelli in 2021.
Taking to Instagram, the former Miss UK, shared a clip of a new song she’d written in his memory. In the caption, she wrote: “Dearest Marc – I loved you more than words can say and I still love you and always will. My beautiful soul connection… what we went through no one will understand or comprehend but by writing this song for you… we did good baby – we did good.”
She added: ‘I can only thank you so so much for being so kind when I needed love and god you did. You’re a total Angel – that stays forever in my heart – gives me so much pain but the love you gave me is worth every single moment of heartbreak and you made me stronger than I ever thought possible. Dear Marc I love you.”
Under the post, she revealed he had died as the result of a ‘massive stroke’, leaving her followers stunned. One of the followers who appeared to have known her wrote: “You looked so happy together when I last saw you and I’ve been aware of what’s going on. What a rollercoaster.”
Another said: “He sounds like he was a great person. Remember the happier times and be blessed that you meant so much to one another.”
Kirsty Bertarelli(Image: Getty)
Kirsty, whose maiden name is Roper, grew up in Staffordshire and spent her childhood in Stone. She was then sent to the now-defunct private boarding school Howell’s in North Wales and gained seven O levels.
At the age of 17, she joined a modelling agency in Manchester, which entered her for the Miss UK beauty contest. Her modelling career took off and in 1988 she was crowned Miss UK and became second place runner-up for the Miss World pageant.
Kirsty – who co-wrote All Saints’ No 1 single Black Coffee – then set her sights on the music industry and she was signed to Warner Records where began writing music professionally.
She retired from the public eye in 2021 after the breakdown of her marriage with billionaire Ernesto. In July 2023, she appeared to be coming out of the shadows when she hosted a joint birthday party with Marc in Sardinia, introducing him to the world.
During the event, she sang to him, with guests and friends describing their relationship as a ‘true romance’, reports the MailOnline.
A friend said at the time: “She is in a better place – close friends, a new younger man, and a bulging bank balance.”
At the time of her split from Ernesto, who is the father of three of her children, she was given the huge sum, a £52million Lake Geneva pad, and an £8million chalet in the Swiss Alps.
The couple were previously ranked 14th on the Sunday Times Rich List for their £9.2billion fortune.
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