Multi-millionaire investment banker and his estranged wife lock horns in High Court over money after he was cleared of assault when he called her a ‘gold digger’ in bitter divorce row at their £11m stately home

• Clive Standish and Anna Standish are fighting it out in the High Court over cash
• It comes following their bitter divorce row over their £11million Hampshire estate
• They both appeared at private hearing in the Family Division in London on Friday

A multi-millionaire investment banker and his estranged wife have locked horns in a dramatic court battle after he was cleared of assault.

Clive Standish and Anna Standish are fighting it out in the High Court over money following their bitter divorce row at their £11million estate.

They were both at a private hearing in the Family Division in London today as a judge opened proceedings.

Mr Standish was previously accused of attacking Mrs Standish, who was in the process of divorcing him, by trying to barge down a door she was behind.

Mrs Standish, who threatened to ‘get him out’ of their 83-acre home in Basingstoke, had claimed her husband tried to punch her during the dispute.

But a District Judge threw out the case in May, saying the breakdown of the marriage had led to ’emotion interfering with reality’.

He ruled accounts of the incident were ‘exaggerated’ and the ‘sad circumstances’ of the divorce had led to her memory being ‘distorted’.

Clive Standish (pictured) and Anna Standish are fighting it out in the High Court over money following their bitter divorce row at their £11million estate

Mr Standish (pictured) was previously accused of attacking Mrs Standish, who was in the process of divorcing him, by trying to barge down a door she was behind

Moundsmere Manor is set in 83 acres (above) near the village of Preston Candover, was built in 1908 but the original manor dates back even further. It was once owned by Henry VIII and formed part of the wedding gifts for two of his wives

Stately home owned by King Henry VIII… what is Moundsmere Manor?

The current Moundsmere Manor in Hampshire was built in 1908 by the Edwardian architect Sir Reginald Blomfield for Wilfred Buckley, an English merchant returning to the UK having made his fortune in America.

The red brick Grade II listed building is now owned by Mr Standish after it went on the market in 2010 for £10.95million.

The 15-bedroom stately home was previously owned by Tory life peer Lord Laidlaw of Rothiemay.

The original manor dates back even further, having been once owned by Henry VIII and formed part of the wedding gifts for two of his wives – Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard.

In 1543 it was exchanged by King Henry as part of a deal with Winchester College. 

Mr Justice Moor, who oversaw a preliminary hearing today, said both could be named in media reports but other detail could not be disclosed.

Mr Standish was alleged to have snooped through his wife’s emails and tracked her via GPS after he believed she was having an ‘inappropriate relationship’.

After she filed for divorce, he confronted her because she said she would ‘get him out’ of their stately home of Moundsmere Manor, Hampshire.

The court heard Mr Standish came into the courtyard of his estate last March complaining about the ‘bloody’ divorce and calling his wife a gold digger.

He was then accused of raising his fist at a bystander who intervened, although the judge ruled last year this was not meant in an aggressive manner.

After his wife went back indoors, the 68-year-old followed her and was accused of ‘barging’ down a door she had tried to lock behind her.

Appearing before Aldershot Magistrates Court previously, Mrs Standish told the court the pair first met in 1996, and after living together in Switzerland and Australia they returned to the UK in 2011.

The court heard in 2019 his wife had filed for divorce, but remained at the £11m Moundsmere mansion, which sits in 83 acres near the village of Preston Candover.

Mrs Standish told the court the relationship had its ‘ups and downs’.

She said: ‘Clive constantly opened my emails, was constantly going in my computer, constantly went in my car and checked my sat nav. He was in my personal space and went through my drawers.’

In March 2020 Mrs Standish alleged her husband ‘came out very angry, shouting loudly at me straight away’ while she was in the courtyard of the house.

She said: ‘I asked him what he had been doing all day and he said ‘thinking about this bloody divorce’ and called me a gold digger, he was so angry.’

She told the court she went inside the house and tried to lock Mr Standish outside, but he started ramming the door to get it open.

A bystander speaking in evidence said: ‘He [Mr Standish] came out screaming… he was saying that she was a gold digger and saying horrible stuff in an angry voice.

In court, Mr Standish denied two charges, one of assault by beating of his wife and one of common assault of the bystander.

He told the court there were issues in his marriage as far back as 2013, when he began to suspect ‘Anna was conducting an inappropriate relationship with a particular man’.

Despite this, they got through a rough patch and when he learned of divorce proceedings he said he was ‘surprised’.

On March 15, 2020, Mr Standish said he went into the courtyard when the bystander confronted him.

District Judge Timothy Pattinson, found Mr Standish not guilty at Aldershot Magistrates’ Court (above), saying the ‘very sad’ circumstances of the divorce had led to a ‘distortion’ of events

He said: ‘I raised my hand about shoulder height and [she] stopped dead in her tracks.

‘Anna saw this immediately and grasped my hand with both arms. She said I was going to hit her. I said I most certainly was not.

‘I made absolutely no attempt to swing a punch whatsoever. I immediately followed them towards the door.’

He went on: ‘Anna was closing it and I stopped her from closing it. I didn’t push particularly hard.’

He said this was when he called her a gold digger, because he claimed she said ‘I’m going to get you out of Moundsmere’.

District Judge Timothy Pattinson, found Mr Standish not guilty of both charges saying the ‘very sad’ circumstances of the divorce had led to a ‘distortion’ of events.

As a result, he said the prosecution had not proved their case and acquitted Mr Standish of all charges.

Giving the reasons for his finding, Judge Pattinson said: ‘I find that on neither charge can I be satisfied so that I am sure that the prosecution have proved their case.

The former Chief Financial Officer at UBS, Clive Standish (pictured in 2006) earned a slice of a £45million payout when he left the Swiss bank

‘My reasons are primarily because of what I find to be exaggeration by, and unreliability of, the evidence of both Anna and [the other witnesses]… Essentially, because of emotion that has interfered with reality.

‘[That] is different from saying either Anna or [the other witnesses] has deliberately come to court to tell lies – I’m not saying that.

‘I just feel this very, very sad situation has led to a distortion of what actually happened.’

Mr Standish started his professional career with N M Rothschild & Sons Ltd in London.

In 1998, Standish was appointed Chairman and CEO for the Asia Pacific arm of global investment banking firm UBS AG.

In 2003 he moved to the bank’s headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland as Group Chief Financial Officer of UBS AG until 2007 when he retired in the wake of huge sub prime losses at the bank.

In 2008 it emerged on his departure he shared a pay-out of almost £45million with the Swiss giant’s former chief executive and head of investment banking.

The current Moundsmere Manor was built in 1908 by the Edwardian architect Sir Reginald Blomfield for Wilfred Buckley, an English merchant returning to the UK having made his fortune in America.

The red brick Grade II listed building is now owned by Mr Standish after it went on the market in 2010 for £10.95million.

The 15-bedroom stately home was previously owned by Tory life peer Lord Laidlaw of Rothiemay.

The original manor dates back even further, having been once owned by Henry VIII and formed part of the wedding gifts for two of his wives – Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard.

In 1543 it was exchanged by King Henry as part of a deal with Winchester College.

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