Pixie Skase, widow of controversial businessman Christopher Skase, dies in Melbourne

Pixie Skase, widow of controversial businessman Christopher Skase, has died in Melbourne at the age of 83.

The former socialite passed away last week, according to her family, who announced the news via social media on Tuesday evening.

"Our beloved beautiful mother Pixie passed away peacefully on Friday afternoon, the 15th of November," daughter Amanda Larkins shared on Instagram.

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"We have had no words to express our loss, and still don't. She was greatly loved and leaves a hole in our hearts. Rest in Peace Mum."

Larkins shared a photo of her mum alongside the announcement, with her signature blonde hairstyle and big earrings she became famous for.

Skase was born Pixie Dixon in 1941 and grew up in Balwyn North, a suburb in Melbourne's east and went to high school at Kew's Methodist Ladies College.

Skase was married three times.

She welcomed three daughters - Amanda, Felicity and Kate - with first husband, Albert Argenti and another daughter, Alexandra, with second husband George Frew.

In 1976 she began dating Christopher Skase after meeting at an art gallery in South Yarra.

Together they were the power couple of 1980s society before the journalist-turned-businessman was declared bankrupt in 1991, with the couple fleeing to Majorca, Spain.

The collapse of Christopher Skase's Qintex group, reportedly left him in debts of more than $1.7billion.

Skase lived with her husband in exile for 17 years but in the years following his 2001 death from stomach cancer, she moved back to Australia, where she kept a low profile.

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