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Sir Elton John’s ex-wife, Renate Blauel, has launched legal proceedings against the singer at the high court, in a rare intervention by a woman who has been avoiding publicity for decades.

Blauel filed the legal paperwork last week and is seeking an injunction against her former partner, according to filings seen by the Guardian.

The German-born sound engineer met John while he was recording his comeback album Too Low for Zero in 1983 and they married the following year while on tour in Australia. The relationship ended in divorce in 1988.

John later announced he was gay and went on to meet his future husband, David Furnish, and have children.

Blauel has rarely been heard from in public since the divorce, although there was renewed interest in her relationship with John after it was briefly depicted in last year’s biopic Rocketman, in which she was played by Celinde Schoenmaker.

John is named as the defendant in the legal filings. His representatives declined to comment on the case.