Charles Saatchi announces he is to divorce Nigella Lawson. The multi-millionaire art collector, 70, said he made the “heartbreaking” decision to formally split from his wife of 10 years because she refused to defend his reputation after he was seen grabbing her outside Scott’s restaurant in London.There are a number of Game-related elements to the Saatchi story. First, one of the bones of contention between the couple was that the husband didn't want this step-son around the house. While some men are capable of becoming step-fathers, many aren't, which is the source of many horrific crimes against children whose mothers chose poorly, one way or another, when it came to their fathers.
He told the Mail on Sunday: "I am sorry to announce that Nigella Lawson and I are getting divorced.
"I feel that I have clearly been a disappointment to Nigella during the last year or so, and I am disappointed that she was advised to make no public comment to explain that I abhor violence of any kind against women, and have never abused her physically in any way."
Mr Saatchi is said by the paper not to have spoken to his wife since the pictures were published.
Second, despite being the publicly designated "victim" of the story, Lawson isn't the one who decided to end the marriage. Saatchi, being a master of PR, knew it was necessary to take the wrist-slap from the police, which he did not hesitate to do in order to bring the matter to a speedy close. But Lawson, instead of doing her part and presenting a united front to the media, was more concerned about how she would look to her female friends and audience if she didn't play the poor abused victim than she was about her husband's reputation.
In short, she made it clear her loyalties did not lie with him, but to her public image. This is the one thing a woman married to an ALPHA absolutely cannot do. The ALPHA always knows he has options, and in the absence of the one thing he absolutely demands, respect, he will not hesitate to exercise them. Once a woman shows herself to be disloyal in some manner, few Alphas are inclined to forgive or forget.
And what is true of Alphas is also true, in lesser amounts, of lower-ranking men. It appears that Lawson miscalculated and didn't realize how important his reputation was to Saatchi. She is not the first woman to make this sort of mistake and she probably will not be the last.
UPDATE: Yes, as I said, Alpha:
A friend told the Mail: ‘Nigella is absolutely floored and blindsided by the statement. That he would do something like this when there are the children to consider amazes her. Charles is seeing himself and his feelings as the most important part of the equation. It really is stunning behaviour.’Keep in mind that Alpha concerns a man's place in the socio-sexual hierarchy, not morality, behavior deemed socially desirable, or public approval.
She added: ‘Nigella finds the idea that she didn’t help him over the pictures ludicrous. What was she meant to say? She very nearly had a nervous breakdown with the stress she was under.
‘Nigella was trying to protect him by saying nothing in public. It was so difficult for her because she was hoping all the while that they could reconcile and put it behind them, but he never apologised in private or in public and made very little effort to even talk to her. And then comes this, which just shows you how much he cares about his reputation, rather than her.’
Some suspect that, despite his tribute to his ‘lovely wife’ who is ‘the most wonderful woman in the world’ he might have his eye on a new conquest. That, at least, would explain why he was not at pains to put the marriage back together. True or not, this possibility was much aired over glasses of chilled champagne at last’s week society events, including the Serpentine summer party and the Spectator party. It might explain why Saatchi is taking this woefully public scandal so much in his stride.
