News that Cabinet member Michael Gove and journalist wife Sarah Vine are divorcing comes just days after she penned a brutal column about political marriages.
This evening the couple - who have been married for nearly 20 years - announced they have agreed to separate and are "in the process of finalising their divorce".
It comes a week after Ms Vine, a columnist for the Daily Mail, published an article on “the nature of political marriages” in the wake of the Matt Hancock affair.
She wrote that marriages “rarely, if ever", manage to "thrive under the pressures of public life”.
She said the dynamic of political relationships "inevitably sets you on different tracks" and said climbing Westminster’s "greasy pole" "changes a person".
She also told readers that “the problem with the wife who has known you since way before you were king of the world is that she sees through your facade".
Ms Vine wrote in the piece, which was widely shared on social media: “She knows your fears and your insecurities. She knows that, deep down inside, you are not the Master of the Universe you purport to be.”
In the column she did not give any insight into her own marriage, but said there were two types of politician - those who can "walk away from power", and those who can't.
She added: “It is very hard to do these high-level, high-pressure, high-stakes jobs unless you have someone prepared to take up the reins in every other department of your life.
“But the problem is that inevitably sets you on different tracks. You become so entrenched in your respective roles that you begin to drift apart.”
Ms Vine also claimed that the lot of the political spouse is "keeping the home fires burning so the ‘Big I Am’ can do more important stuff".
The columnist wrote that “Westminster is a place of myriad distractions for the politician seeking refuge from his or her home life”, adding: “And when you feel disconnected like that, and because power is such an aphrodisiac, it doesn’t take a huge leap of imagination to see how you can go from being happily married to the kind of person who gets caught so unfortunately on CCTV.”
Her piece said her "former friend" Samantha Cameron had a talent for bringing her husband, former PM David, "back down to earth, and not always gently".
A statement of behalf of the couple said: "Michael and Sarah have agreed to separate and they are in the process of finalising their divorce.
"They will continue to support their two children and they remain close friends.
"The family politely ask for privacy at this time and will not be providing any further comment."
