Divorce proceedings are officially underway for Nigella Lawson and soon to be ex Charles Saatchi.

Today, a "decree nisi," was issued at the High Court in London, which means that after six weeks, the couple can apply for a "decree absolute," which will be the legal document that will finalize the divorce.  Neither Lawson, 53, nor Saatchi, 70, were there for the issuing of the decree, according to CNN.

The decree was issued on the grounds of Saatchi's "unreasonable behavior."  In June, pictures were taken in public of Saatchi, a multimillionaire art collector, with his hands around Lawson's neck. 

According to the Daily News, Saatchi said he wanted a divorce Lawson, a celebrity chef, because she didn't defend him after the incident.

However, according to the court documents, it was Lawson who filed for divorce. There were no details of any financial settlement.  The couple is said to be worth an estimated $228 million.

Lawson has already moved herself and her children out of the family home.

Saatchi told the UK Mail on Sunday newspaper earlier this month that proceedings were to start. 

"I feel that I have clearly been a disappointment to Nigella during the last year or so, and I am disappointed that she was advised to make no public comment to explain that I abhor violence of any kind against women, and have never abused her physically in any way," Saatchi wrote in the statement. "This is heartbreaking for both of us as our love was very deep, but in the last year, we have become estranged and drifted apart," he added.

After the incident, Saatchi told a London newspaper that he voluntarily went to police a day after the pictures were published to accept a police warning, but denied he attacked Lawson.

The divorce will end their marriage of 10 years.