Will she take half my 300 million fortune? Yes, of course. I'll give it to her happily
Her own woman: Bosnian refugee Diana Jenkins is determined to be known for her successes rather than her husband's
He is known as the man who saved Barclays, one of Britains richest bankers with a 300 million fortune.
She is the beautiful Bosnian refugee who counts George Clooney and Guy Ritchie as close friends.
So when it came to light yesterday that Roger Jenkins had separated from Diana, his wife of ten years and mother of his two children, it was assumed this would follow the pattern of other high-profile divorce cases; that there would be public recriminations and an ugly court battle over the family fortune.
But last night, in an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, Roger, a softly spoken and rather private financial genius, said: Will she take half my money? Of course. And quite rightly so. I will happily give it to her.
You have to have a degree of integrity and ethics in a situation like this. Diana and I had a wonderful marriage for ten years. We have two fantastic kids together.
'Without her, I would not have anything like the success I have had. We built ourfortune together from scratch so why shouldnt she get half?
'Iam not going to be one of those people who starts hiding all my money from her, not at all. She deserves half and half is what she shall get.
It is an unusually amiable situation. Even now, in the midst of breaking up, they have agreed to give a dual interview.
Diana,38, sat opposite me in skintight jeans at the rocknroll Sunset Marquis hotel in Los Angeles while Roger, 53, spoke on the telephone from the 25 million estate in Malibu which they continue to share.
Explainingher view ! of the f ormal split, which actually took place in the autumn of 2009 but was only reported yesterday, Diana said: Its better to have an amicable separation than a miserable marriage.
I love Roger. I always will. But I was tired of being Mrs Roger Jenkins, the wife of the man who saved Barclays. I want people to see me as me, not the wife of a rich financier.
'Roger is astrong man. I was living in his shadow. I need to be recognised in my own right. I want to work and to prove myself.
Diana denies recent reports about a month-long holiday she took in Australia last year, which suggested she has a 22-year-old boyfriend.
She said: They are so untrue its not funny. I think a lot of women will relate to this. I married young and the woman I was at 25 is not the woman I am at 38. I have to know that I can accomplish things on my own.
Whileit is clear that Roger still adores his wife, he accepts her need for independence and admitted: What is that saying? If you love something,let it go? Well, I have let her go. But I still love her. And money doesnt matter a damn.
'We had a bit of a hippy marriage. Not a bad one, just an unconventional one, and now were having an unconventional split.
A banker with ethics? Roger Jenkins, the man who saved Barclays, says his wife made him the success he is today
Itscertainly true, they were never an ordinary couple. Diana was born Sanela Dijana Catic to middle-class Muslim parents in Alipasino Polje, agrim concrete complex of communist-style blocks four miles south of Sarajevo.
Her father was an economist with a publishing firm called Svjetlost, her mother an accountant. She graduated from the University of Sarajevo with a degree in economics and so! cial eng ineering.
Then, war with Serbia tore the country apart.
For four years, Sarajevo, oncepart of Yugoslavia, endured the longest military siege in modern history, during which 15,000 residents died.
Diana escaped via the famous Sarajevo tunnel and arrived in London in 1993. She had nothing.
Unable to speak English, she started her London life working in a Covent Garden store earning 2 an hour. Shemanaged to save up enough money to enrol for a degree in computer science at City University.
It was then that she met Roger Jenkins at the Barbican gym in the City. An appropriate meeting place perhaps for a man who, in his youth, was an international sprinter.
Atthe time Roger was living alone in a rented apartment. He had separatedfrom his wife, Catherine McDowell, a fellow Barclays banker whom he metwhen they were trainees in 1978.
Diana said: Roger was incredibly kind. He was attracted to me and I was attracted to him.
'ThePress have always been very cruel about us. People in England have tried to portray me as a gold-digger. But I fell in love with a man who was kind to me. Very, very kind.
Thecouple married at Chelsea Register Office in 1999, the same year their son Innis was born. Their daughter Eneya was born three years later.
Dianaand Roger were very different characters he was quiet, she was garrulous; he preferred to keep in the background, she liked to be the centre of attention.
Celebrity socialite: Diana always liked the limelight more than her husband. She hung out with Guy Richie and Kid Rock but insists she was always faithful
Roger said: I am a very private person and dont give interviews butI am doing this because she is a very misunderstood person. People dont understand our chemistry.
When we met, I had absolutely nothing. Id walked away from everything. I was in a rented flat. I had nothing in the bank. When I met Diana I had zero equity.
Peoplelook at us and judge us. We never had that thing where I was worth x million and she married me. People misjudge her and are unkind. She is very misunderstood.
Stylish A-listers: Diana (second from right), pictured with David Furnish, Tamara Mellon and Elton John
When she married me I still had nothing.She introduced me to a certain social lifestyle. We are very different people. Shes definitely an alpha female. She helped me, nurtured me andencouraged me.
There is no way I would have achieved what Idid in the City without her. Without her, I would be nothing. Men dontnormally give credit to their wives. I do. She didnt make me. But she complemented me. And I love her for that.
It was Diana who charmed the Qatari royal family into parting with billions to take a stake in Barclays during the 2008 global banking crisis, an action that saved the high street bank and secured her husbands reputation.
But by then he had already risen to become the highest-paid employee of a FTSE 100 company ever, earning an estimated 75 million in 2005 alone.
The combination of his business acumen and her social skills was a powerful mix.
Although Roger was reluctant to socialise, Diana enthusiastically embraced the high-profile, celebrity-driven, charity world.
Sheorganised event! s to rai se money for Darfur and Haiti, becoming friendlywith celebrities such as George Clooney and Brad Pitt in the process.
She had come a long way from Sarajevobut, by her own admission, a part of her always felt excluded, that shewould never be accepted in such society.
Herexperiences had made her different, particularly the loss of her brother Irnis who was shot dead just eight days before the end of the war.
In an interview with Tatler in 2009, Diana said she was often viewed as nothing more than an Eastern European mail-order bride and recalled how one day, ata charity gala, I looked around the room and thought, What am I doinghere with these people?'
I felt really unfulfilled, empty, almost dirty.
Even now,her brothers death is a driving force in her life. She said last night: Money meant nothing to me from that day onwards, except as a wayI could help people.
Much admired: Diana with Justin Timberlake
I look at a 7,000 Hermes bag and I see my brothers face: 3,500 could have saved him. I failed him. I live with that guilt.
Dianaand Roger would often spend months of their marriage apart. She retreated to the familys Malibu mansion while Roger spent six months ofthe year at their grand Mayfair townhouse off Berkeley Square.
AlthoughDiana has been photographed on nights out with Rio Ferdinand and Guy Ritchie, Roger insists she has always been faithful, saying: She came h! ome to m e both nights.
Instead, it was the distance between them that ultimately took its toll.
Hesaid: She is a woman who is incredibly loyal and faithful. But it was exhausting trying to carry on a long-distance relationship. We had a main house in Malibu that I put in Dianas name.
'The kids were happy. I was in London on business and when I came back I would disrupt the household.
Id be gone for six months and then suddenly come back and the balance would be off. The kids wouldnt understand it.
The couple havent told the children about the separation yet but they plan to continue family life.
Roger, who left Barclays in 2009, now works in private equity investments, focusing on Latin America and the Middle East.
Hesaid: The Malibu property is on a five-acre site. The main house has always been in Dianas name. I live in an adjoining property. The children have bedrooms in both and move between the two houses.
Weshare our parenting duties and the children come first to both of us. Tonight, I took the kids for a pizza and am here looking after them. Buton Monday I leave for Latin America and she will take over. Shes an amazing lady and a fantastic mother.
Certainly, Dianas firstwish is to protect the children. She said: Our kids dont know anything. There wasnt one big row or one big showdown. We are still Mummy and Daddy to them. Roger does his bit and I do mine.
'Theydont even know we are separated. Thats why this is so important. I want our children to know that Mummy and Daddy are separated but love each other.
I told Roger I will always love him but I need to fly. I go off to Haiti and other places and I need to spread my wings. He is someone who is older, who prefers to be more settled.
'I respect him and I love him. But I need to be free.
From rags to riches: The grim flats in Sarajevo where Diana grew up are a long way from the Malibu estate she now calls home
As well as her charity work, Diana isa successful businesswoman who runs a swimwear company, Avalon Fashions, and a soft drinks company, Neuro, which turns over 30 milliona year and employs nearly 100 people.
The drinks are now sold in Tesco, Waitrose, Selfridges and Harrods.
Diana,who is in Los Angeles to meet young musicians to help create mood music for her drinks, said: I could either be the wife of someone orthe CEO.
When you are the wife of someone as hugely successful as Roger, it taints peoples perceptions of you.
I so desperately want to be recognised as a human being in my own right. I dont want to be Mrs anyone.
I still love her, and money doesn't matter a damn
'WhenI married I was 25 years old but had never been exposed to life. I was young and old at the same time. Nice women never made history. I am trying to make my own history.
Rogeradmitted he is still in love with his wife and probably always will be,while Diana said she will only divorce Roger if he meets someone else and wants to marry them.
That is never going to happen, he said. I love and support her and will always continue to do so.
We are just at different stages in our lives. A person only has so much energy to give.
Shes a fantastic mother and a fantastic businesswoman. Something had to give.
I think people want things to be black and white We still love each other and people can either like it or lump it but it works for us.
And there is a real sense that, in one way, a part of them will always be together.
Diana said: Whatever I do! I will always be his wife. I love him, he is such a good man.
But this is my time to be me.
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