He said: "When we started to talk about marriage seriously, Jen said, 'I want a pre-nup so people know I'm not going to take you to the cleaners.' "

Jennifer added: "I said, 'I'll sign anything to prove I don't want anything from you - except the cats and the giraffe.' John said, 'I don't want it. It's not romantic. We're not having one.' "

However, John - whose third wife, Alyce Faye Eichelberger, was awarded £12.2 million when the couple divorced in 2008 after 16 years of marriage - soon changed his mind when he realised Jenny wouldn't be looked after under Monaco law, where they live.

He told Britain's HELLO! magazine: "Here's the irony; we decided after a time that in spite what people might think, we probably wouldn't need one at all. And then Jenny's lawyer said she was not properly looked after under Monaco law, where we now live. So I said, 'Fine, in that case, we'll have one.' "

The 'Monty Python' star was also previously wed to actress Barbara Trentham from 1981 to 1990 and his 'Fawlty Towers' co-star Connie Booth from 1968 to 1978.

The actor has two daughters, Cynthia Cleese, 41, from his marriage to Connie, and Camilla Cleese, 28, from his relationship with Barbara.

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