Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi, who have been granted a divorce, pictured last year. Photograph: Dave M Benett/Getty Images  Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi have been granted a decree nisi, ending their 10-year marriage seven weeks after the multimillionaire art collector was photographed clutching the TV cook by the throat.  The decree was granted by District Judge Anne Aitken after a 70-second hearing at the high court in London on Wednesday morning. Neither Saatchi nor Lawson, nor any of their legal representatives, were present.  Saatchi, 70, and Lawson, 53, will now have to wait for a decree absolute, which is usually issued six weeks later and ends the marriage.  Court papers show that Lawson petitioned for divorce on the grounds of unreasonable behaviour, which, according to the documents, was continuing. The paperwork also reveals that an "order for financial relief" between the parties has been approved, suggesting they have come to a private financial agreement without recourse to the courts.  Speculation over the state of their marriage erupted after a Sunday newspaper published photographs last month showing Saatchi holding his wife 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, who has subsequently been pictured without her wedding ring, has described him as ''the exploder'' in the past because of his temper.  Saatchi later told the Mail on Sunday the pictures gave a "wholly different and incorrect implication".  But he also told the newspaper: "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."  The couple confirmed they would not make any financial claims against each other, ruling out prolonged legal arguments.
Decree nisi is granted by judge seven weeks after art collector was seen holding wife by throat in restaurant