What will the £400million divorcee do next? She went from UK beauty queen to billionaire's wife... but Kirsty Bertarelli never gave up her dream of pop stardom, says KATHRYN KNIGHT

Last July, beauty queen-turned-billionaire Kirsty Bertarelli posted a heartfelt message on Instagram to mark her 20th wedding anniversary.

Alongside a picture of her snuggled in an open-top sports car with her husband, pharmaceuticals heir Ernesto Bertarelli, the former Miss UK-turned-aspiring pop star paid tribute to her other half.

'Twenty years together today!! Taking a little spin with you to mark the occasion of one hell of an amazing journey!' she wrote. 'With you always by my side and me always by yours. I love you so very much!'

And what a journey it has been: as Kirsty herself said in a rare interview several years ago, marriage to Ernesto proved the gateway to an 'amazing' life, showcased on social media posts that are a whirl of exotic locations, exclusive beach clubs, ski trips and alpine sunsets.

But just over a year after posting that emotional message it has emerged that the Bertarellis' journey has come to an end. As the Mail revealed yesterday, the couple have quietly divorced.

Kirsty Bertarelli was awarded it as part of a £400 million divorce settlement that makes her the richest British-born divorcee in history, with a fortune exceeding that of the Queen and J. K. Rowling

Just a few weeks after that heartfelt anniversary message last year, Kirsty posted another picture of a work-in-progress oil painting she was making of her husband

Ms Bertarelli, 50, is now living alone in a breathtaking £52 million mansion on the shores of Lake Geneva. She was awarded it as part of a £400 million divorce settlement that makes her the richest British-born divorcee in history, with a fortune exceeding that of the Queen and J. K. Rowling.

News of the divorce seems to have come as a surprise to many. 'Only a very few were aware of what was going on,' one source close to the couple told the Mail yesterday. 'They have both been very discreet. They still have a lot of respect for each other.'

They were a couple who, until now, seemed to have pulled off the enviable feat of having both phenomenal wealth — they were 14th in this year's Sunday Times Rich List, with an estimated £9.2 billion fortune — and a long-lasting marriage.

It also marks another chapter in the colourful life of Kirsty Bertarelli, whose divorce settlement is a £350 million slush fund, plus that £52 million house in Geneva.

Colourful it may be, but her story is not entirely a tale of rags to riches. Kirsty Roper was born in Staffordshire and her father, along with her uncles, owned one of the world's largest manufacturers of ceramics, Churchill China. It meant Kirsty was raised in some comfort.

'I had a very rural childhood, with a beautiful home and loving parents,' she recalled in an interview eight years ago. 'We had a tennis court and played tennis all the time. We all had horses, although I wasn't as good at riding as my sister.'

She attended the now-defunct private boarding school Howell's in North Wales and gained seven O-levels, intending to study for A-levels until she became ill with bacterial meningitis. Her parents discovered her collapsed on the floor; doctors said if they had come an hour later, she would have died.

Ms Bertarelli , 50, is now living alone in a breathtaking £52 million mansion on the shores of Lake Geneva

News of the divorce seems to have come as a surprise to many. 'Only a very few were aware of what was going on,' one source close to the couple told the Mail yesterday

A year on, she joined a modelling agency in Manchester, which entered her for the Miss UK beauty contest. She won in 1988 and entered the Miss World pageant, where she was placed second runner-up, winning £1,000.

She moved to London, to a mansion flat in Chelsea bought by her parents, and continued modelling in advertisements and for catalogues while pursuing a song-writing career.

Five years later, when her father's company went public, a house in South Kensington and a £3 million trust fund followed, along with a place in the glossy Sloane Set alongside the likes of Elizabeth Hurley and socialite Tamara Beckwith (Kirsty remains close to Tamara to this day).

For two years Kirsty was romantically involved with casino heir Damian Aspinall, living in his Belgravia townhouse. She was subsequently named in his divorce from his first wife Louise, although later she insisted that the duo were separated when they got together.

Then, in 1997, at age 26, she met her future husband Ernesto Bertarelli at a dinner party in a Sardinian villa. He was a catch: six years her senior, handsome, refined and clever — he is a Harvard graduate. He also happened to be very rich, CEO and heir to the pharmaceutical company Serono, then Europe's biggest biotech firm.

Little wonder that Ernesto had his choice of women — but he settled on Kirsty, who said that it was love at first sight for both of them, even if it did take him an agonising two weeks to call after that first meeting. 'There were so many girls wanting to be with him and I think he just found me naively refreshing,' she said.

Recalling the first time they met Kirsty said: 'There were so many girls wanting to be with him and I think he just found me naively refreshing'

He proposed two years later in Mexico with the aid of a mariachi band, and the couple married in July 2000 in Geneva in front of 250 guests. Ernesto's father Fabio had died prematurely in 2018 of cancer, leaving Ernesto the owner of Serono. Six years after their wedding, he sold the company to the German drug maker Merck for £9 billion.

Kirsty was now a member of the elite — although the year of her marriage had also seen her achieve a long-standing personal ambition: after her wedding, a song she had co-written, Black Coffee, went to No 1 in the UK charts. A love song, the lyrics were inspired by Kirsty's feelings for Ernesto and it was originally intended to be released by her as a solo single, only to be given by the record company in London to girl band All Saints.

By the time it achieved success, Kirsty was pregnant with her and Ernesto's daughter, now 20, conceived on the couple's honeymoon in Africa.

The Bertarellis later welcomed two sons, now 17 and 15. Motherhood, alongside Ernesto's sailing obsession, curtailed Kirsty's dreams of pop stardom. Ernesto had set his sights on winning the America's Cup, and the growing family relocated first to New Zealand and then to Spain to help his team, Alinghi, achieve his dream. They succeeded twice, in 2003 and 2007.

From 2008 the couple divided their time between an £8 million estate in Gstaad, a £10 million mansion in Geneva, a mews house in Belgravia and the £100 million yacht Vava II.

It is the largest ever yacht built in the UK and includes a helicopter pad and a swimming pool with a moveable floor to alter the depth.

in 1997, at age 26, Kirsty met her future husband Ernesto Bertarelli at a dinner party in a Sardinian villa. The couple married in July 2000 in Geneva in front of 250 guests

In the year 2000, Kirsty achieved success in the music industry after a song she had co-written, Black Coffee, went to No 1 in the UK charts

The couple had several charitable foundations to their name, promoting conservation interests and projects in Staffordshire. Kirsty also seems to have retained a down-to-earth streak. She remains close to her parents, while her Instagram feed features pictures of baked beans and home-made shepherd's pie alongside the swimming pools and ski chalets.

The couple have also remained hands-on parents: while they had a nanny during the children's early years, Kirsty subsequently eschewed one. 'I don't want one; I didn't have one,' she said in 2015. 'Ernesto and I are always at home, bringing up the kids. Every morning we're preparing breakfast for them, there's pandemonium in the kitchen, alarms going off, who has a rugby match, who has a football match. We cook for them.'

Nonetheless, her musical yearnings never left her and by 2010, she'd signed to Universal records under her alter ego 'Kirsty B' and released her first album. Three more followed. The same year she was the support act for Simply Red frontman Mick Hucknall and, two years on, her single Twilight peaked in the European dance charts for nine weeks.

'I'm not wanting to be the new Rihanna or Lady Gaga. I'm just a singer-songwriter,' she told one journalist. 'I don't think Ernesto is going to stop working and rely on my income quite yet, but it still feels fantastic to make your own money.' Ernesto certainly appeared to support his wife's ambitions, often seen cheering on the sidelines when she performed live.

Motherhood, alongside Ernesto's sailing obsession, curtailed Kirsty's dreams of pop stardom

From 2008 the couple divided their time between an £8 million estate in Gstaad, a £10 million mansion in Geneva, a mews house in Belgravia and the £100 million yacht Vava II

Until recently, theirs seemed to be a happy marriage: just a few weeks after that heartfelt anniversary message last year, Kirsty posted another picture of a work-in-progress oil painting she was making of her husband.

'A little green but gorgeous,' she wrote. Yet just a few months later, in February, she posted a picture on Instagram showing her holding her hand in front of her face minus her wedding ring while on a mountain walk with a girlfriend.

Now it appears that around then, the Bertarellis were thrashing out the terms of their divorce, with Kirsty represented by Baroness Shackleton, the lawyer known as the Steel Magnolia, who represented Prince Charles and Sir Paul McCartney in their divorce cases. 

Yet the Bertarelli split is said to have remained civil. 'The truth is that while they were very much in love, Kirsty and Ernesto have always been two quite different people,' a friend told the Mail last night. 'They have just grown apart.

'Kirsty celebrated her 50th birthday this summer and the fact that was on the horizon has focused her mind for a while on what she wants to do with the rest of her life.' Acquaintances wonder if she will renew focus on her musical ambitions.

'The dream to prove herself as a bona fide force to be reckoned with has never left her,' says the friend. 'All she's ever really wanted to do is be a pop star.'

Indeed, as she puts it on her own website: 'I've been writing songs since I was in my teens. But now I am a little older, there is so much more to write about!'