She was the fiercely loyal wife, standing by a husband branded America’s ‘most hated and most clueless man’. But now former BP boss Tony Hayward’s partner has called time on their 27-year marriage.

Maureen Fulton has been granted a ‘quickie’ divorce, citing the 55-year-old oil chief’s ‘unreasonable behaviour’.

The decree nisi came only months after Ms Fulton was reported to be leading the fightback  to restore her husband’s tattered reputation following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon rig disaster.