A couple involved in Britain’s biggest divorce award will not be identified after a judge ordered their names should never be made public.

The husband in the case, a City trader, has been told to hand over £453 million to his estranged wife and mother of his two children.

But Mr Justice Haddon-Cave yesterday issued an order preventing the couple’s identification, leaving the public in the dark over the individuals at the heart of the case.

It is thought the wife may have requested anonymity over fears for her safety in a case involving such huge sums.

Legal sources say the judge’s concerns for her security may have overridden the principle of open justice in this case.

The 44-year-old woman had argued she was due nearly a half share of the couple’s total £1 billion fortune because of her "equal contributions to the welfare of the family" during their long marriage.