Elton John's ex-spouse Renate Blauel claims the singer broke the terms of their divorce agreement and is now demanding a £3 mln ($3.8 million) payout, The Sun reported, citing court documents.
It appears that in 1988 the couple signed a non-disclosure agreement, which, according to Blauel, her ex-husband broke by mentioning her in his autobiography "Me", published last year.
Sources close to the composer told The Sun that he was upset to learn about Blauel's claim, given the fact that he portrayed her in the best light.
"Elton is shocked and saddened by Renate's claim, especially as he has only ever praised her publicly", a source said. "“He has always had a very pleasant relationship with Renate, respects her enormously and would never have said anything revealing about their marriage."
"He very much hopes she will see sense and drop this case", another source added.
John's friends told the newspaper that the book contains nothing that is not known to the public, and according to the court documents, Sir Elton agreed to remove certain passages before publishing "Me". The book, however, still contains a passage about his regret at "breaking the heart" of his ex-wife.
In a chapter of his book, Sir Elton also writes, "At this point, I should say that Renate and I agreed when we divorced that we would never publicly discuss the intimate details of our marriage. And I am respecting that."
He adds that he doesn't have anything bad to say about Blauel, "nor does anyone else who met her".