Charles Saatchi files for divorce from Nigella Lawson

Charles Saatchi has begun divorce proceedings against celebrity chef Nigella Lawson after pictures showing him holding her by the throat were published.

Releasing a statement to the Mail on Sunday, Saatchi, 70, described his sorrow over the end of the couple's 10-year marriage, but also voiced disapproval that Lawson, 53, had failed to support him over the scandal last month.

Photographs of Lawson, 53, and Saatchi, 70, were published last month which showed him holding her by the throat as they had an argument on the terrace of a restaurant.

He dismissed the incident as nothing more than "a playful tiff" but then accepted a police caution for assault. He said he had done so to stop the incident "hanging over" them.

Lawson and her children were pictured leaving the family home with bags last month, shortly after the pictures were released, and have not returned since.

Today Nigella Lawson's spokesman said: "There is no comment from Nigella."