- NEW YORK -- Lionel Richie's
second wife has hit him with a massive £164,000-a-month maintenance
bill while she works out what she wants from their multi-million dollar
marriage.
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- Diana Richie, 37, has put in court papers detailing their
"extraordinary extravagant lifestyle" after filing for divorce.
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- She has told the Los Angeles Superior Court that she
and Richie regularly spent more than £164,000-a-month. But he could
easily afford it because he earned far more. She said he was paid up to
£550,000 for performing at private parties. In the papers, Diana
says: "The respondent and I had an extraordinary extravagant lifestyle.
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- "We could comfortably afford to spend unlimited
sums of money on everything and anything we chose. I had no limit on what
I could spend.
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- "I spend in excess of $50,000 (£27,000) a
month for my own personal services, entertainment, and shopping.
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- "In addition I spend at least $20,000 (£11,000)
a year on plastic surgery. The respondent has always encouraged me to spend
as much money as I want on beauty treatments, clothing, etc."
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- She claims she spends thousands every month on the couple's
two children, Miles, nine, and five-year-old Sofia.
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- She reveals she wants to start sending Sofia to a therapist
at a cost of £270 a month.
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- The papers add: "The respondent and I spend extraordinary
amounts of money each month on each of our children.
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- "Miles attends a boarding school in Colorado. The
tuition is approximately $125,000 (£68,000) per year. I try to visit
Miles at least once a month. Each trip costs between $15,000 (£8,200)
and $20,000 (£11,000).
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- "The respondent and I pay for Sofia and other family
members and friends to accompany me to visit Miles.
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- "We always travel with our nanny. We all fly first
class and stay at very expensive hotels.
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- "Tuition for Sofia's school is $16,000 (£8,800)
per year."
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- Diana goes on to reveal that the family employs eight
full-time staff to work at their £22million home as well as separate
people to clean their pool and groom their dog. Diana adds: "We spend
between $35,000 (£19,000) and $45,000 (£25,000) per month in
connection with the salaries of our staff."
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- Detailing holidays, she says: "We vacationed several
times a year at the most popular resorts and on exclusive yachts.
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- "We went on family vacations at least two or three
times a year to such places as New York, Colorado, the Caribbean, Hawaii
as well as to Europe.
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- "In addition, the respondent and I went at least
one time a year by ourselves, usually to a city in Europe or to Hawaii.
We always stayed at the best hotels and resorts.
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- "We stayed in suites which cost a minimum of $1,000
(£550) to $3,000 (£1,600) per night.
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- "On vacation, we always participated in many activities,
no matter the price. We frequently went snow skiing, took boat trips, jet
skied, went horseback riding and swam with dolphins.
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- "We also regularly purchased expensive souvenirs
for ourselves and our children and ate at very expensive restaurants."
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- Diana also talks in detail about their 30-room Beverly
Hills mansion. She says: "Our house is worth in excess of $40million
(£22million). It has seven bedrooms and 17 bathrooms. We have many
pieces of furniture, each worth between $10,000 (£5,500) and $25,000
(£14,000).
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- "A chandelier is worth in excess of $35,000 (£19,000),
a tapestry $50,000 (£27,000) and oriental rugs total at least $150,000
(£82,000)." And they always have at least six cars in the garage.
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- Diana says she has not worked since she met Richie in
1984.
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- She was 18 and dancing at the opening of the 1984 Los
Angeles Olympics, where he was singing.
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- Richie was married to his first wife Brenda but started
dating Diana. He and Brenda finally split up in 1991 and he married Diana
in 1996. The couple broke up in October 2003 due to "irreconcilable
differences". She filed for divorce five months ago. Recently, Richie
blamed the break-up on being away from his family too much of the time.
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- But he ruled out an early divorce saying: "I don't
want to put the kids through this."
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- Despite claiming the £164,000-a-month, Diana has
still to hit her husband with the final bill for splitting up their massive
wealth.
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- While he waits, Richie can reflect on the fate of fellow
celebs.
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- Steven Spielberg gave Amy Irving £58million, Michael
Douglas's wife Diandra picked up £44million and Tom Cruise paid Nicole
Kidman £46million.
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