Column: Happiness comes from within, not via material goods

But there’s something worse - a scorned former model whose husband has traded her in for a younger, erm, model. I’m talking about Christina Estrada, currently embroiled in one of the biggest divorce cases to be heard in Britain. The former Pirelli model is battling her husband for a £200 million pound share of his fortune. Fair enough, but Christina’s spending habits are simply jaw-dropping.

Whist the rest of the country struggles to survive on zero-hour contracts, Ms Estrada claims she needs at least £62 million to purchase a home. On top of this she’d like £1 million a year to dress herself, with £58,000 required for TWO luxury handbags, another £23,000 for six ‘casual’ handbags and £35,000 for clutch bags.

Let me put this into perspective . The average yearly income of a registered nurse is £23,019 – the bill for her ‘casual’ handbags. I know which one I’d find more useful. But that’s not all, she’s also demanding £4,000 for sunglasses, and £26,000 for her mobile phone. Now I don’t know what kind of phone she owns but it’s certainly not on an O2 contract.

Ms Estrada, now 54, says she needs a further £247,000 to book the Presidential Suite at a hotel in Paris for October half-term every year. Has she not heard of Center Parc?

The divorce case follows the breakdown of her 13-year marriage to 61-year-old billionaire Saudi Dr Walid Juffali. He’d initially offered a £37 million settlement which was turned down. Sadly, he’s currently receiving treatment for cancer at a Swiss clinic, but she’s concerned about a £10 million ring she says belongs to her. As her lawyer pointed out: “If worst comes to the worst and he is dying, it is going to be a hopeless task to get the ring back.” Er, quite. The court heard how Ms Estrada also turned down a £6.5 million London pad because she ‘might have to share a floor with staff’. My heart bleeds.

Her husband embarked on an affair with a Lebanese model, 35-years his junior. Under Saudi law, men can take up to four wives, and, months after Ms Estrada’s 50th birthday party, he married again.

Estrada launched divorce proceedings in 2013, but before the papers were served, her husband divorced her using Muslim law which requires the man to say ‘I divorce you’ three times. She challenged it, and was given leave by the High Court to sue him.

It’ll be interesting to see what the outcome is, although a sense of entitlement is never attractive. Sometimes it’s better to appreciate what you have because happiness comes from within, not from material goods.