Monty Python star John Cleese is confident his divorce proceedings against his third wife will be "worth every penny."

The actor appeared in a California court on Tuesday, where a judge ordered him to pay his estranged spouse Alyce Faye Eichelberger Cleese $150,000 a month in temporary maintenance. Speaking outside the court, a wheelchair-bound Cleese - following surgery on his knee the previous day - said, "It's going to be very, very expensive - but it will be worth every penny."

Eichelberger is reported to be asking for two houses, half of Cleese's earnings since 1992, plus maintenance of $1.8 million per year - while claiming she has no money of her own. Jacqueline Misho, Eichelberger's lawyer, told the court her client has "nothing, zero, because Mr. Cleese has not seen fit to pay any support up to this point."

Cleese has however questioned his estranged wife's reasoning, saying, "When Ms. Misho said my wife has absolutely no money, it puzzled me how she could be staying at the Carlyle Hotel in a room that costs $1,185 a night." The comedian confirmed he has accepted an offer to sell his Santa Barbara ranch for $16.5 million.

Cleese's first wife was actress Connie Booth. He married TV director Barbara Trentham in 1981, before divorcing in 1990. Eichelberger and Cleese were wed in 1992.

-Check out John Cleese's Filmography

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)