DONALD Trump's ex-wife Ivana was front page of the Oxford Mail after winning a battle over a bill for a posh bash in Raymond Blanc's restaurant.  

Oxford Mail:

In April 1998, socialite Ivana Trump and party organiser Lady Elizabeth Anson were rapped in the Appeal Court over a £6,500 unpaid bill for a couple's party at Raymond Blanc's restaurant Le Manior aux Quat' Saisons. 

Three appeal judges said that Mrs Trump could contest the outstanding bill rendered by Lady Elizabeth - a cousin of the Queen - for exclusive hire of the restaurant at Great Milton for a two-day fiesta in 1993. 

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But Master of the Rolls, Lord Woolf, said it was 'regrettable' that so much had been spent in legal costs - about £20,000 - over such a relatively small sum of money. 

The judge added: "If a degree of sense had been shown on both sides, it is obvious that this matter could and should have been disposed of by agreement. I can only hope that, now this judgment has been given, that there will be the result." 

Oxford Mail:

The court heard that Lady Elizabeth, trading as Party Planners, booked the hotel for 20 couples for a surprise 50th birthday for Mrs Trump's then-fiance - now ex-husband - Riccardo Mazzuchelli over the weekend of June 19-20, 1993. 

Mrs Trump, who had paid a £10,000 deposit, disputed the final bill, arguing that her agreement with Lady Elizabeth was for a party costing something under £25,000. 

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In November 1996, Lady Elizabeth obtained a High Court judgment against Mrs Trump. Later, a judge refused Mrs Trump's application to have the judgment set aside. 

On April 7, the latest development in the story from the Oxford Mail archives, Lord Woolf, sitting with Lords Justices Otton and Robert Walker, ruled that Mrs Trump should be allowed to defend the claim. 

Mrs Trump, who was 49 at the time, is thought to have been paid £10m after the breakup of her marriage to Donald Trump.