Judge rules serial divorcée Susan Sangster, who made £18m from three marriages, will not make a penny from her fourth

Career divorcée Susan Sangster will today walk away from her fourth marriage without a penny of her husband's £45million fortune.

Mrs Sangster, who has amassed £18million from wealthy ex-husbands, had hoped to challenge a pre-nuptial agreement she signed before marrying Stuart Crossley.

But on the eve of a High Court hearing in the case, she is understood to have abandoned all claims on the property developer's millions.

A friend of Mrs Sangster yesterday claimed she never wanted any money, saying: "She doesn't get a penny from this. She never wanted a penny.

"She has got what she wants - that is her freedom from this man."

The pre-nuptial agreement, which cost £20,000 to draw up, was to protect the rights of the couple's children from earlier marriages.

The key point in the contract was that neither had any legal claim on the other's millions if they divorced.

But when the marriage failed after 14 months, due, it is alleged, to Mr Crossley's infidelity, Mrs Sangster claimed the contract was invalid.

The society beauty, who owns a £6.25million flat in Belgravia and a home in Barbados, said she was entitled to half of Mr Crossley's fortune because he had not disclosed "tens of millions" hidden in offshore accounts.

Mr Crossley, 62, fought back, claiming his estranged wife's actions were "outrageous behaviour from someone who has enjoyed a very high standard of living as a serial divorcée".

And the courts took his side, in October granting the father of four the right to a fast-track divorce, based on the terms of the pre-nuptial agreement.

The decision was hailed as a landmark ruling because such contracts have had little validity in British law.

Divorces are generally the subject of protracted court hearings, with the couple's financial position and the merits of their claims being discussed before the judge awards any financial settlement.

But, in this case, judges decided that as the marriage had been short and childless, both parties were independently wealthy, and both had agreed to waive the right to any financial claims before they married, the divorce could be sorted out in a day.

Mrs Sangster appealed against the decision, saying a one-day hearing would not give her enough time to convince the court she deserved a payout.

But her appeal was dismissed in December.

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Backing the fast-track option, Lord Justice Matthew Thorpe described the case as "quite exceptional".

"If ever there is to be a paradigm case in which the courts will look to the pre-nuptial agreement as not simply one of the peripheral factors of the case, but a factor of magnetic importance, it seems to me that this is such a case," he said.

The only unfinished business revolves around the couple's belongings.

It is understood Mrs Sangster is asking for the return of some of her paintings and Mr Crossley wants some furniture back.

A spokesman for Mr Crossley at Max Clifford's PR agency said he would not be commenting on the outcome.

Mrs Sangster, whose ex-husbands include the heir to the Kwik Save millions and racing magnate Robert Sangster, was last night travelling back from Barbados, but a statement issued earlier this year summed up her mood.

She said: "I simply want my marriage to Stuart Crossley over. It was a very unhappy marriage, made more horrid by his admitted infidelity.

"I do want items of mine in his possession returned to me but I am not a 'career divorcée'.

"I have only benefited from one financial settlement that was made in the divorce from my dear Robert [Sangster], which was mutual and amicable.

"I want an end to any relationship with Stuart Crossley and hope never to see him again.

"A day in court in February will suit me fine as long as it ends this horrible marriage."

The couple met on a blind date in June 2005 and, after a whirlwind romance, married in the Caribbean seven months later.

Mrs Sangster, a former model, said her new husband was "the best thing that had ever happened to her".

But the "honeymoon" was over within six months.

Mr Crossley says she was demanding and manipulative.

Mrs Sangster says he was unfaithful with a younger, married woman.