Evenings in the beer garden at the Fleur de Lys pub in Lowsonford are idyllic. Drinkers look out over the Stratford Canal and view houseboats as the sun sets below the Warwickshire hills.
For Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas – she is internationally known thanks to her role in Game Of Thrones; him for his chart success with the Jonas Brothers – a certain degree of anonymity that comes with living in the country must have been an added attraction.
The couple stopped by several times earlier this summer, without their two young children, to have a drink together. They barely received a second glance from the local crowd. “It was nice weather and they were sitting outside together,” an employee said last week.
“There were no scenes, no signs of trouble.”
As recently as July 21, the couple were spotted at another pub – the nearby gastro pub The Saxon Mill – this time with their children, their parents and another family. Everything seemed to be fine here too.
Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas have agreed to live in New York and share custody while Turner’s case is being adjudicated there
Jonas reportedly heard or saw something via a Ring doorbell camera that convinced him the marriage was over
Of course the idyll is really over now. Turner’s brother told the Mail last week that the couple’s impending divorce was “stressful”, particularly for their parents Andrew and Sally
The Turner-Jonas marriage was always a connection between two very different people (Image: The couple in March)
Actress Sophie Turner leaves the matchmaking session on Wednesday
Joe Jonas arrives at the law office in Lower Manhattan wearing a blue jacket, white jeans and black loafers
Of course the idyll is really over now. Turner’s brother told the Mail last week that the couple’s impending divorce was “stressful”, particularly for their parents Andrew and Sally.
The couple are fighting three separate court cases in both the US and the UK. Sophie and the children are at least temporarily stuck in New York by order of a court.
A four-day mediation began Wednesday at a law firm in New York. If they can’t reach an agreement, there will be a trial in Manhattan federal court in January.
Appearing at a court hearing via Zoom on Tuesday, Sophie looked cheerful. It has been confirmed that her two daughters are living with her – at her friend Taylor Swift’s apartment. Her estranged husband was represented by his lawyers.
And no wonder Sophie smiled, because if there’s one lesson to be learned from the tumultuous events of the last three weeks, it’s this: Don’t mess with Sophie Turner. She shares a martial sensibility with Sansa Stark, Queen of the North, the character she played in Game Of Thrones.
The couple are fighting three separate court cases in both the US and the UK
The 27-year-old British actress and the 34-year-old American pop star arrived separately at the Wilmer Hale offices in New York’s financial district
Because while Jonas, who apparently filed for divorce on September 1st without his wife’s knowledge, became the first blood in the marital dispute, the course of the proceedings so far shows that she is proving to be an implacable opponent with strong nerves.
She invoked the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction and retaliated by accusing Jonas in a court case of refusing to hand over the girls’ passports so they could return with her to England and demanding the “immediate return of children who have been unlawfully abducted or unlawfully retained”. ‘.
Turner’s lawyers say she wants to settle in the United Kingdom with her children, a route previously approved by her husband. He argues that they belong to him in Florida, where he used to own a house. Her side embarrassed him by attaching a copy of a letter he wrote in court – in which he talks about how much he longs to live in the house they exchanged contracts for in Oxfordshire.
Another PR victory was having Taylor Swift at Turner’s side. Not only is Swift a global megastar and the queen of heartbreak, she’s also one of Jonas’ ex-girlfriends. Jonas dumped Swift in a 25-second phone call in 2008. Revenge is served ice cold.
The Turner-Jonas marriage was always a connection between two very different people.
He is 34 years old, the son of an ordained minister from Arizona, and is a few inches shorter than his wife. Like her, he had been famous since his youth.
She’s a slim country girl from a wealthy middle-class family – her father is a successful businessman, her mother a teacher who gave up her job to supervise her daughter while she stars in Game Of Thrones.
In an interview, Turner said she began acting at the age of three at the Playbox Theater in Warwick. “I grew up in a tiny little village in Warwickshire. It was really nice, a rural upbringing. “We had a paddock behind the house where horses used to graze, and we had three little barns, one for each of our children,” she said.
Her teacher at drama school encouraged her to try out the series Game Of Thrones, a blockbuster based on the books by George RR Martin.
“I didn’t even tell my mother about the first auditions, but at the last audition in London I said to myself, ‘I’m going to die if I don’t get this part.’ I just know Sansa too well. I can not understand.’ ‘
Sophie and her lawyer are seen arriving at the law firm in New York City
Jonas and his supervisor enter the offices of Wilmer Hale in New York’s financial district
For the first three years, she accompanied her mother on set as a chaperone. She was 14 when the series began and 22 when it ended.
She met Jonas through mutual friends when she was 23, and they married shortly afterwards. First there was a small wedding in Las Vegas, followed by a larger party at the Hotel du Cap in France. It seemed like a fairy tale.
Daughter Willa was born in July 2020 in California, followed by Delphine in 2022 in Miami, Florida. Aside from a role in the 2022 series The Staircase, Turner barely worked.
In April this year, their Miami home was put up for sale and the couple and their children moved to the UK.
They rented an old farmhouse near Lowsonford, near Henley-in-Arden, court documents showed this week. They had previously spent Christmas there and had such a wonderful time that they decided to return.
Sophie is picked up from Taylor Swift’s New York apartment and driven to the lawyer’s office for divorce discussions
Over the weekend, Turner and Taylor Swift (left) were seen leaving Italian restaurant Emilio’s Ballato in Soho after having dinner together
Sophie grew up nearby, just outside Royal Leamington Spa, and is close to her parents, who still live in the area in a large family home.
Turner says her daughters Willa and Delphine were registered with a local GP and Willa attended a local nursery – which was confirmed by one of the mothers there.
One parent with connection to the nursery said: “They were here in the summer term with their little girls.” I know they rented a flat in Lowsonford.
Everyone was talking about how famous they were, but then at the end of the school year we were told they wouldn’t be back in September.’
That’s because the couple spent the summer house hunting, eventually settling on a £7.5 million listed property in Oxfordshire to purchase as their forever home.
The plan – before Jonas filed for divorce – was to move in in December.
In the spring, Turner began filming the ITV drama Joan, about a jewel thief.
In August, the children traveled to the US, where Jonas is on tour, so they could spend time with him during the day. The plan, Turner says, was that they would reunite with her the following month, her filming schedule permitting.
According to a report from Turner, the couple had an argument – presumably on the phone – on August 15, Jonas’ birthday. “The breakdown of the parties’ marriage happened very suddenly,” their lawyers say.
He filed for divorce in Florida on September 1. According to their site, they first learned about this through media reports on September 5th.
A joint public statement spoke of a “mutual” decision to “mutually end” the marriage. However, a narrative blaming Turner for the breakup emerged via gossip websites. It was said that her “partying” was the reason for the rift and that she felt she had missed out on the experiences of a young and carefree woman.
Gossip website TMZ also says that Jonas heard or saw something via a Ring doorbell camera that convinced him the marriage was over. It is now reported that Jonas heard her “denigrate” him in response. “It was nothing more than that, but that was the final straw,” said a source.
The divorce petition in Florida states that the children had previously lived there for six months and that a prenuptial agreement made by both of them should be enforced.
Three weeks later, Turner hit back in a New York court with an explosive lawsuit in which he invoked the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction.
A representative for Jonas certainly seemed shaken by the legally aggressive move.
Last week he said: “This is an unfortunate legal disagreement over a marriage that sadly ends.” Using phrases like “kidnap” is misleading at best and a serious abuse of the legal system at worst. The children were not kidnapped.
Last week the pair agreed a restraining order to keep the children in New York after Sophie demanded Joe take them back to the UK (Image: The Jonas Brothers perform in Las Vegas last month)
“After being in Joe’s care for the past three months by mutual consent of both parties, the children are currently with their mother. Sophie is only making this claim to move the divorce proceedings to the UK and permanently remove the children from the US.”
As for the PR war, Jonas’ rep also said the singer has “already rejected all statements allegedly made on his behalf that were derogatory to Sophie.”
“They were made without his consent and are not consistent with his views. “His wish is for Sophie to reconsider her harsh legal situation and take a more constructive and private approach.” There has since been a hearing in Florida where the judge said he would take care of the divorce – apart from custody – in Miami in December.
Turner and Jonas have now agreed to live in New York and share custody while Turner’s file is resolved there. Jonas’ lawyers say Turner has also filed for divorce in the UK through her British law firm Harbottle and Lewis.
Michelle M. Gervais, a partner at Blank Rome LLP who does not represent either side, described Turner’s strategy so far to the Mail this week as “very clever” and said it reminded her of the anti-hero of the television series The Wire: ” When you come to the king.” [or in this case the queen]You best not miss this.’
She added: “Ms. Turner’s filing in New York’s federal court in The Hague was a great legal move and one that has much more merit than Mr. Jonas’ filing for divorce in Florida. A kidnapping case is governed by treaties between the United States and contracting parties such as the United Kingdom and is closely monitored by both the U.S. Department of State and the United Kingdom.
“If Ms. Turner is successful, a court in the United Kingdom will subsequently decide on custody. “Ms. Turner’s application should immediately stay Mr. Jonas’ divorce proceedings in Florida.”
Gervais added that she believes Turner has an “excellent chance” of bringing the children back to the UK and then settling the divorce here.
In legal documents, Turner speaks of England as a “safe place” to raise her family and says: “The parties’ mutual plan was to purchase the property together and raise their children together in the beautiful house and English countryside.” “Both parties were happy about their family moving.”
It looks like that dream is still within reach – even if it’s just the three of them now.