French President Francois Hollande has separated from his long-term partner Valerie Trierweiler, two weeks after a report surfaced that he was having an affair with an actress.
{mosads}He told French news agency Agence France Presse, “I am making it known that I have put an end to my shared life with Valerie Trierweiler.”
A presidential aide confirmed the dissolution of the seven-year relationship to the Associated Press.
Although Hollande and Trierweiler aren’t married, Trierweiler acts as first lady for international events.
After a French magazine reported earlier this month that Hollande had been seeing film actress Julie Gayet, Trierweiler was hospitalized for reported shock and exhaustion.
The uncertainty in their relationship was creating a diplomatic headache for the White House as it planned the guest list for next month’s state dinner.
Hollande vowed last week to clarify who the first lady of France is in time for the dinner.
He’s hardly the first French leader to have an affair and the French public has historically respected its leaders’ requests that their private lives remain private.
The sex scandal, however, comes as the French leader is already reeling from record low poll numbers and follows his well-publicized 2007 separation from fellow Socialist Party heavyweight Ségolène Royal, with whom he has four children.