"She’s going to play tough": Katie Holmes is determined to win Suri custody war after spending weeks meticulously planning split

"She’s going to play tough": Katie Holmes is determined to win Suri custody war after spending weeks meticulously planning split

SHE is set for a bitter divorce battle with Tom Cruise but Katie Holmes played it cool as she had ice-cream with their daughter Suri â€" on the movie superstar’s 50th birthday.

Katie was all smiles as she and her six-year-old made their first joint public appearance together at a New York parlour on Tuesday evening following the split.

And speaking for the first time since her announcement shocked Tom last week, Katie said: “I’m all right, thank you.”

Her arms were wrapped tightly around little Suri as her daughter was seen tenderly stroking her mother’s face while sitting on her knee.

Katie is said to be planning to do “whatever it takes” to win sole custody.

Insiders claim she is determined to prove her primary residence is in New York so her divorce hearing is heard there rather than in Los Angeles â€" because California courts are said to favour joint custody.

An insider close to the 33-year-old actress said that after seeing Tom’s second wife Nicole Kidman cut out of the lives of their adopted children â€" Bella, 19, and Connor, 17 â€" Katie was determined to become Suri’s primary carer.

The source said: “Bella and Connor aren’t that close to Nicole, and Katie is determined that she won’t be cut out of Suri’s life.

“Bella and Connor are devoted to their father and Scientology, and Katie saw this first hand, and this is one of the reasons she filed for sole custody.

“Katie will not be relegated to a secondary role in her daughter’s life. Period. And she is prepared to fight Tom in court.

“Katie isn’t going to back down and she will do whatever it takes to ensure that she raises Suri herself.”

 

Holding Tom tightly: 2010 photo of the pair very much together

However, Hollywood icon Tom is expected to file a response in California and is said to be determined to get joint custody.

Katie secretly planned the split ­meticulously for weeks before it was announced, it has been reported.

She is said to have professed her love for Tom just days before their break-up.

A source said: “She was talking to Tom on the phone up until last week saying, ‘I love you.’

"Her inner circle has been planning this and switching out cell phones since she was in China (in mid-June).

“When new cell phones arrived, then nobody could reach her.

"Her old best friends from last week don’t have her new number, no email. She’s unreachable.”

Reports in America suggest Katie’s ­decision to appoint lawyer Allan E. Mayefsky shows she means business.

Legal analyst and author Lisa Bloom says Katie has made a tactical move in hiring Mayefsky, who previously ­represented architect Peter Cook in his d ivorce from model Christie Brinkley.

Lisa said: “She’s making it clear she’s going to play tough.

"Cruise is more of a high-profile celebrity than she is, so he has a greater distance to fall if grievances are aired.

"Everyone has dirty laundry they don’t want aired.

“She’s saying ‘play fair with me or else’… of course, she would choose an ­experienced and tough lawyer.

“But the fact that she’d choose someone who’s been known to go to the media in the past signals that she might have hired him for that reason.”

All smiles: But Katie is prepared to be ruthless

Tricia Walsh-Smith was on the receiving end of the Aronson, Mayefsky and Sloan firm when she divorced Phillip J. Smith, boss of the US’s oldest theatre company, the Shubert Organization.

And she told a US website: “Katie needs cut-throat lawyers because Tom is really powerful.

"The dirtier the better, so I think she made a good choice. They are known for being ruthless, and they normally win.”

It had already been reported that Katie’s attorney father Martin, 67 was helping her â€" but a US magazine also reported he “helped orchestrate” the split.

Tom is believed to have flown back from filming in Iceland to the US to begin his legal fightback.

His lawyer Bret Fields has stated the actor has not made any decisions on his strategy and was considering his options.

He explained: “Tactically we can’t say where Tom will file a divorce case and if he’ll be seeking joint custody of Suri.

“We are letting the other side p lay the media until they wear everyone out and then we’ll have something to say.

"It’s not Tom’s style to do this publicly. He’s really sad about what’s happening.”

US film studio Paramount offered its public support in a statement saying: “Tom is a huge movie star for the right reason, he’s a very talented actor whose movies have entertained millions of fans.

“His ability to make a great movie, as we saw with the most recent instalment in the Mission: Impossible franchise â€" the most successful of the series to date â€" is the thing that moviegoers remember above all else.”

View gallery

• "
• "
• "
• "
• "
• "
• "
• "
• "
• "

View gallery