Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise divorce: Police called to investigate 'heavily armed gunmen

Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise divorce: Police called to investigate 'heavily armed gunmen

• Katie emerged for the first time since announcing divorce last Friday to film show Project Runway
  
• Katie expected to walk away with cash she brought into marriage due to pre-nup
• Turned down invite to husband Tom's 50th birthday party in Iceland today
• Tom's adopted son Connor tweets support for 'La Familia'
• Divorce documents claim the marriage was doomed six months ag0

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 13:13 EST, 2 July 2012 | UPDATED: 10:22 EST, 3 July 2012

After police were called in to investigate claims that Katie Holmes was being followed by 'heavily armed' men - it seems the actress is taking no chances.

Making her first public appearance since she announced her divorce from husband Tom Cruise, the actress was flanked by several heavy-set bodyguards from company Blue Steel security.

Looking back to her sleek and glamorous self in a navy and black crepe dress, and high heels, Katie, 33, looked as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders as she stepped out to film an appearance on show Project Runway: All-Stars.

Scroll down for video

Worried: Katie Holmes emerged in public for the first time yesterday - flanked by a three man detail of bodyguards amid reports she is being followed by armed men

Somebody's watching me: The actress surfaced to film an episode of Project Runway at the Parsons New School of Design

According to reports, the actress' neighbours in New York became concerned after spotting the unidentified men, believed to be members of the controversial Scientology doctrine to which Cruise belongs, surrounding Katie's Chelsea apartment building on Friday.

Stare them out: Katie has enlisted the help of Blue Steel security team

However, law enforcement were unable to take any action because the former Dawson's Creek star didn't make the call herself, sources told the New York Post.

Yesterday, the 'armed' men were pictured sitting inside a white Cadillac Escalade, taking pictures and questioning several people outside of the actress's apartment building. 

The actress’ security detail came as sources spilled more details about her husband, who is in Iceland filming the movie Oblivion.

Even a reporter from the New York Post approached the car to question the men's intentions, but were met with stony silence.

Since being spotted in the cars there has been intense speculation about who the men are and where they come from.

'She felt like she was in ‘Rosemary’s Baby,' a source told US magazine, referring to the 1968 horror movie in which Mia Farrow plays a woman impregnated by Satan with the help of a cult.

Movies are his first love: Tom invited Katie to celebrate his 50th birthday at a party on the Oblivion movie set in Iceland today - but she turned him down

Sources said Cruise asked Holmes to fly to Iceland for a birthday bash he was throwing for himself today - when he turns 50 - but that she turned him down.

'He begged her to come to Iceland... for one last try at reconciliation,' one source said. She refused, and a 'huge fight ensued,' US reported.

Katie is clearly taking no chances with hers and her daughter Suri's safety.

According to the Post, police officers checked the vehicle's Tennessee number plates and questioned the men inside, but could not elicit any substantial answers. 

Many reports speculate that they are members of the controversial Scientology church, while other say they are private Investigators, allegedly hired by Cruise, who are keeping tabs on Katie and her whereabouts.

Surrounded: Yesterday, the alleged heavily armed men were pictured sitting inside a white Cadillac Escalade, taking pictures and questioning people outside of Katie's apartment building

It is claimed that the tracking of Katie's every move has been going on for weeks - even before Friday's shock announcement the pair will divorce.

However, a lawyer for the Church Gary Soter told TMZ that the Scientology movement is 'not following Katie or conducting surveillance on her in the wake of her divorce with Tom Cruise'.

Sources say that Katie foresaw this coming, prompting immediate action and secretive moves.

'Katie saw all the pressure -- [Scientologists] are professionals at pressuring people to be quiet,' a source told the Post. 'That’s why she did this in secret.

'Suri is at the age where they are going to start educating her in Scientology centers and indoctrinating her into the religion.

Under surveillance: The heavy set men emerge from the white Cadillac Escalade parked  in front of Katie's alleged new apartment in New York

You've been rumbled: And they left the car to walk up the street

'Katie did convert when she and Tom were married, but she didn’t take to it. Behind closed doors, and when the private planes and the red carpets were gone, she didn’t like it. And she decided she does not want that for Suri.'

Katie was said to have been planning the big move from the Manhattan apartment she shared with Tom to her own Chelsea apartment for several weeks.

She apparently finally began the process when Tom travelled to Iceland to film his latest movie Oblivion.

But now that she is there, it seems she is a prisoner in her own home, prompting her own security team to retaliate.

Katie's team are said to have since invested in camera gear in order to keep track of the investigators.

Surrounded: Men with cameras have been seen surrounding Katie's apartment in Chelsea

Undercover: A man with an earpiece is seen talking on the phone outside her apartment building

Meanwhile it has been revealed that Katie's Ohio-based attorney father Martin was a key figure in actress's final shock decision to divorce Cruise.

According to People, Katie's father came to New York and immediately stepped in to help.

'Her father came into town and fired (people surrounding Katie),' a source told the magazine. 'He took control. He was worried about his daughter.'

However, the final decision was down to Katie and only Katie.

'She's a strong person and makes up her own mind. She's unwavering,' the source added. 

Following Katie's announcement on Friday about the divorce, Cruise, who turns 50 today, has been spotted in Iceland, where he is shooting his new sci-fi movie, accompanied by his teenage son Connor.

And Connor, 17, yesterday took to his Twitter page to voice his support for his father in the wake of the split, writing: '#LaFamilia Always. Friends Come And Go, But Family Is Forever.'

Tug of love: Katie in New York with Suri last week

It was suggested last week that Tom and Katie that the pair had been living in separate sections of their sprawling LA apartment, with Katie opting to live in a large communal area in the Scientology Celebrity Centre - rather than face her increasingly controlling husband.

After Katie announced her plans to divorce her husband of five years, their lives have been blown open with a picture suggesting a controlling, often manipulative Cruise of taking charge of his wife's movie roles, appearance and even changing her name.

The Sunday Mirror reports the Top Gun star told his wife she must be called 'Kate' instead of 'Katie' and carefully picked her film roles - making sure the starlet didn't opt for something he didn't agree with.

Also their building, in the huge towering Scientology complex in LA was carefully guarded with sources revealing 'men in suits' stood guarding every door and even 'escorting' people to their own rooms.

Big part: The Church Of Scientology has played a big part of the now estranged couple's lives

'Katie was really embarrassed about it and didn't seem to like people to see the way she lived behind closed doors. Everyone knew they stayed in separate sections of the apartment,' a family friend said.

Katie has also appointed a new publicist in the wake of the split, signing on with BWR Public Relations after cutting ties with her former representatives at Slate PR.

Cracks began to emerge after former Dawson's Creek star Katie started to fear for her daughter Suri, six, when she realised Tom's devotion to Scientology could not be wavered.

And Katie, who filed for divorce in New York - where it is thought she stands a better chance of getting custody of Suri, was thought to have 'finally snapped' after seeing a shot of her husband posing provocatively on the cover of W magazine with two women draped over him.

But it was his unwavering commitment to following the Scientology doctrine which sowed the seed of discontent according to family and friends.

The show must go on: Tom took off from Reykjavik airport last week, following news Katie has filed for divorce on Friday

Under the doctrine a child can make his or her own decisions and Tom treated his daughter 'like a little adult'.

A family friend said: 'Tom basically treats Suri as a little adult, however Katie treats her like a six-year-old child, and that causes major clashes. The couple were arguing over Suri.'

The source added to Radar: 'Katie did not want Tom making all the decisions in Suri's life, and that's what was going on.

'She decided it was high time she started deciding on what was best for her daughter, or at least having an equal say, and she knew that would be impossible if she remained Mrs. Tom Cruise.'

Support system: Katie's father Martin Holmes, a prominent Ohio-based attorney, is said to be helping his daughter with the divorce

Another source told Us Weekly magazine: 'Tom didn’t follow a sleep schedule for her. He let her eat ice cream for dinner and was all-around overindulgent.

'They fought viciously over this because Katie struggled to be a disciplinarian.'

SURI IN THE MIDDLE

A bitter custody battle is set to break out between Tom and Katie over their young daughter, Suri (pictured in New York last week).

The actress is seeking sole legal custody and primary residential custody of the six-year-old, and a 'suitable amount of child support'.

She even filed for divorce in New York - rather than California - because the East Coast state doesn't like giving feuding parents joint power to make decisions for their children, according to TMZ. 

But sources say the actor may mount a fight to bring the case to California, which favors joint legal custody.

They have suggested that Tom's absence - he has been on a promotional tour and filming he's new movie - was started to take a toll on his young daughter's behaviour.

Holmes's lawyer Jonathan Wolfe made it clear what his client's priority is in a statement to People magazine: 'Katie's primary concern remains, as it always has been, her daughter's best interest.'

And Katie's Catholic parents Kathleen and Martin Holmes are happy to have their daughter back, too.

A source told RadarOnline.com: 'It's been tough for them over the past five years to watch Katie be controlled by Tom and they really felt that they had lost their daughter to some extent.'

'So, that's the one bright side to the divorce â€" they feel like they're getting the old Katie back again.'

But it does appear that Tom really was blindsided by his wife of five years's decision to divorce, as he gushed about her at a ceremony to accept his Friars Club Foundation Award just two weeks ago.

Tom who took his children Suri and Connor, 17, as dates to the event, said after he picked up his award: 'My wife who couldn't be here tonight, I have to thank, she made this suit for me. She's amazing. I'm very lucky to be married to her.

He then added, according to Usmagazine: 'She's in China working.'

Holmes has asked for legal custody, primary residential custody and a 'suitable amount' of child support from her husband, TMZ reported.

Holmes is also asking for a division of property in the divorce documents, although there is a significant pre-nuptial agreement that is based on California law.

The couple are worth around $275million - much of that owing to Tom's box office success.

The terms of the pre-nup are understood to be clear - for each year the couple stay married, the Dawson's Creek actress collects $3million - to a maximum of $33 million after 11 years - as well as their palatial home in California.

If their marriage had lasted more than 11 years, Holmes would have received half of Cruise’s reportedly $250million fortune.

After filing for divorce less than six years later, ac cording to the agreement, Katie should only be entitled to $15million as well as the couple's $35million Beverly Hills Mansion.

However, new claims suggest that Katie is likely to receive little from the divorce due to the pre-nuptial agreement in place, and is likely to leave the marriage with just what she had beforehand.

A source told TMZ.com: 'She's not about the money. She's not that girl. She loves to work. Money is not that important to her. She makes plenty on her own.'

Cruise is believed to have 'not seen' the divorce coming.

But sources insist that she did tell her husband of five-and-a-half years that she was filing for divorce â€" but she didn’t give him a chance to control the spread of the news, as he did with Nicole Kidman.

Dream wedding: The pair married in an Italian castle in 2006 and filed their marriage certificate in California

While news of the divorce completely blindsided the actor, according to TMZ Katie has known it has been coming for some time.

Sources who have claimed to have seen the divorce documents, say that Katie stated in her papers that the marriage was doomed six months ago.

The revelation comes after the pair were seen walking hand-in-hand just over two weeks ago in Iceland, where Tom is filming his new movie Oblivion.

In the documents, the former Dawson's Creek star also claims that she and Tom have been registered residents of New York for 'at least two years'.

As reported earlier the actress is said to be desperate to file for divorce in New York as the courts there are more inclined to grant her sole custody of Suri.

But it is unknown whether Katie and Tom ever established legal residency in the East Coast state, which will could affect Katie's case significantly.

Skeptic: Katie is said to dislike and distrust Scientology - of which her estranged husband is a vocal advocate - and no longer wants their daughter to be raised in accordance with its doctrines

VIDEO: Courts won't rule on religious matters, including Scientology!.. 

• 'Cannibal' attack in China as drunk bus driver leaps on...
• How track and field athletes have been DIVING across the...
• 'My grandma shot me. I'm going to die': 74-year-old breaks...
• 2008 gold medal darling Nastia Liukin FACE PLANTS at...
• 'I'm a eat you': Crazed naked man high on bath salts...
• They get fired for being ill and they HATE it when you order...
• Still at large... but not for long: Australian policemen...
• The reverse honour killing: Indian teenager poisons her...
• Adorable pictures to melt even the hardest heart: Tiny...
• Zara was a brat who 'crossed the line', says her father...
• 'We took their fingernails out with pliers and we made them...
• Is this the world's worst father? 'Deadbeat dad' abandons...

Share this article: