Mel Gibson’s wife files for divorce

One of Hollywood's most enduring marriages has come unstuck: Robyn Gibson, wife of the actor and director Mel Gibson for 28 years, and the mother of his seven children, has filed for divorce. Given Gibson's wealth - he made a fortune out of his controversial film The Passion of the Christ and owns property in California, Costa Rica, Fiji and Australia - it could be one of Hollywood's most expensive splits, too.

The divorce papers were filed in Los Angeles Superior Court just weeks after Gibson was photographed on a beach in Costa Rica in the company of a Russian brunette called Oksana, one of the artists on the actor's recording label Icon.
 
Robyn Gibson, who is 52 and has cited 'irreconcilable differences', is being represented by the lawyer Laura Wasser, whose previous clients include Britney Spears, Angelina Jolie and Keifer Sutherland.

Gibson's fortune is estimated at nearly $1bn. One of his most extravagant purchases was the private island of Mago in Fiji for which he paid £10m in 2005. The actor plans to turn the 2,160-hectare island paradise - home to a handful of coconut farmers and their families - into his own personal retreat.

Two years later he bought a ranch in Costa Rica for £18 million - which is where he was photographed with Oksana. Among other properties, the 53-year-old Catholic - once described as Hollywood's 'most powerful Christian' - also owns the Holy Family Church in Malibu.

He first found fame with Mad Max in 1979 - the year before he married Robyn - before making the popular Lethal Weapon series. Many believe his marriage began to unravel following the humiliation of the 2006 incident when he launched into an alcohol-fuelled anti-Semitic tirade after being stopped for drink-driving in Malibu. ·