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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Kyle O'Sullivan

Why Ivana Trump divorced Donald and their surprising relationship after split

Ivana Trump had a bitter split from ex-husband Donald - but remarkably the pair managed to rebuid their relationship.

Having unceremoniously split amid heated rows before enduring a tense legal battle, the former couple put their differences aside and were speaking once a week.

And the former US President paid tribute to his first wife, who tragically died at her home in New York this week at the age of 73.

"She was a wonderful, beautiful, and amazing woman, who led a great and inspirational life," wrote Trump on his social media platform Truth Social.

"Her pride and joy were her three children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. She was so proud of them, as we were all so proud of her. Rest In Peace, Ivana!"

Ivana had already been married and divorced from Alfred Winklmayr when she first met Trump in 1976, while she was in New York City for a fashion show.

Donald Trump and Ivana Trump arriving at a social engagement in New York. in 1989 (Getty)

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Ivana and a group of model friends were waiing for a table in a bar when a "tall blonde guy with blue eyes" approached and offered to help.

In 2016, Ivana told the New York Post that she turned to her friends and said: "The good news is, we’re going to get a table real fast. The bad news is, this guy is going to be sitting with us."

Trump ended up paying the bill then disappearing, but they found him outside in the driver's seat of his limousine and he drove them home.

The pair started dating and less than a year later they got married at Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan in April 1977.

Ivana, who was born in Czechoslovakia before living in Canada then immigrating to the US, worked in her husband's business empire and they became popula figures in society during the 80s.

They worked together on many big projects, with Ivana helping design the interious for Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City and the construction of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City.

The couple had three children together who are now very well-known, Donald Jr. in 1977, daughter Ivanka four years later and youngest Eric in 1984.

Donald Trump and Ivana appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 1988 (Getty Images)

But their marriage started tp crumble due to Trump's infidelities - most notably his rumoured affair with model Marla Maples.

A legal battle ensuredover the legitimacy of the four prenuptial agreements the pair had successively negotiated over the years, but Trump still stood by Ivana's side to support her at her father's funeral in 1990.

The divorce received a lot of media coverage and Donald promised it was "going to be amicable" in an interview with People.

"Listen, we never had a fight. The kids never saw anything wrong. And they're gonna be great. She's gonna be great," he said.

However, Ivana claimed the children were "wrecks", saying Ivanka had asked if she would still be a Trump and Eric thought she was going away and would never come back.

At the time, Ivana accused Trump of treating her badly, but she would later claim it was "just lawyers' stuff".

"He treated me fantastic I never had a problem, always polite always outspoken," she said on Good Morning Britain in January 2018.

"During divorce it was nasty because lawyers were involved once it was over we became friends," she added.

Donald Trump and Ivana Trump divorced in 1992 (Getty)
They managed to rebuild their relationship (Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

After her divorce from Trump in 1992, Ivana developed her own lines of clothing, fashion jewellery and beauty products.

According to The New York Times, she received $14 million, a 45-room Connecticut mansion, an apartment in the Trump Plaza, and the use of Mar-a-Lago for one month a year in the settlment.

Trump went on to have daughter Tiffany with Maples in 1993, who he married two months later but divorced in 1999.

In her 2017 memoir Raising Trump, Ivana said: "After the showgirl got pregnant and had a daughter, Donald married her. The whole world was watching. He couldn’t not wed the mother of his new baby, regardless of whether his heart was really in it."

Ivana, who went into the Celebrity Big Brother house in 2010, married Italian entrepreneur and international businessman Riccardo Mazzucchelli in November 1995 but they divorced two years later.

In 1997 she began a relationship with Italian aristocrat Count Roffredo Gaetani, which continued until his death in 2005.

Her fourth husband was Italian actor and model Rossano Rubicondi, who was 23 years her junior, but they divorced less than a year after getting wed in 2008.

Donald Trump paid tribute to his first wife (Getty Images)

Despite the bitter end to their marriage, Trump and Ivana managed to get back on good terms.

In her memoir, she insisted she had no issues with her ex-husband's third wife, Melania, who he married in 2005.

"I have no problems with her at all. Why should I? She didn't break up my marriage," wrote Ivana, who did then land herself in hot water with Melania.

In 2017, Ivana told Good Morning America that she didn't want to make Melania jealous by calling Trump at the White House.

"I'm basically first Trump wife. OK? I'm first lady," she said, adding that she would "rather be a secret adviser to Donald from the comfort of my town house, should he call".

When asked if Trump was still a big part of her life, Ivana said: "We speak about once a week. He asks me for advice - on what he should and shouldn't tweet. I said 'I think you should tweet'.

Sadly, shedied at the age of 73 and was found inside her Manhattan home after someone called 911 to report a person, believed to be Ivana, suffering from cardiac arrest.

Ivana Trump died suddenly aged 73 in New York (Getty Images)

A New York police spokesperson said she was found dead on the stairs inside her apartment but it was not under suspicious circumstances.

A statement from the Trump family read: "Our mother was an incredible woman - a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend.

"Ivana Trump was a survivor. She fled from communism and embraced this country.

"She taught her children about grit and toughness, compassion and determination.

"She will be dearly missed by her mother, her three children and 10 grandchildren."

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