After 8 years of marriage, Beyoncé‘s mother Tina Knowles-Lawson has filed for divorce from her second husband Richard Lawson. According to TMZ, Tina filed for the divorce on Wednesday on the grounds of irreconcilable differences and stated the date of separation as Tuesday.
The 69-year-old in the divorce documents has also asked the court to cancel the court’s power to grant spousal support to her or Lawson. Initially called Celestine Knowles, Tina had her name changed to Celestine Lawson in the wake of her marriage with Richard. She has, however, asked for the former name to be restored.
Tina was initially married to Beyoncé and Solange’s father Mathew Knowles before they went their separate ways in 2009 after more than 30 years of marriage. Tina is said to have ended that marriage after she got to know Matthew had an affair that resulted in the birth of a child, Page Six reported. The former couple finalized their divorce in 2011.
Tina then married Lawson in 2015 after they started dating two years prior. That was also Lawson’s second marriage. “I’ve known Richard for 40 years, and when we reconnected, it was, just, I felt like, a gift from God,” Tina said about their relationship on the Tamron Hall Show last year.
“I really mean that because I prayed. After I went through a divorce, it was pretty devastating after 33 years, and I always planned on, if it was in God’s plan, to get married again because I like being married. I like being in a relationship.”
To celebrate their wedding anniversary in 2021, Lawson in an Instagram post also revealed how he met his future wife. The actor said Tina was married and pregnant with Beyoncé when his sister introduced them.
“I thought you were one of the most beautiful women I had ever met. Breathtaking.!! The thing that was so striking was that your beauty continued to be enhanced by your incredible heart, compassion, empathy, generosity, and philanthropy,” he shared.
“You were pregnant with Beyonce at the time, and married, so my incredible attraction for you then, could only live in my fantasy. As we remained friends throughout the years, I took great pleasure in observing you become the ultimate mother, especially for your own daughters, but also for the way you care for and nurture women all over the world.”
Lawson also said it took “32 years for my attraction for you to come full circle’, adding, “It was well worth the wait.”