By Keith Wagstaff
On Thursday , Russian President Vladimir Putin foretell that he and his married woman , Lyudmila , were stupefy divorcedafter 30 age . The media has been speculating over their wedlock ever sincerumors surfaced in 2008 of an affairwith Alina Kabaeva , an Olympic gold medal – winning gymnast half Putin ’s historic period .
" It was a joint decision : We scarcely see each other , each of us has our own life , " Putin aver on commonwealth TV after take care the ballet with his wife . The duad were married in 1983 and have two daughters , Maria and Yekaterina .
While it ’s relatively rarefied for cosmos leader to get divorced in office , it has happened before .
1. President Nicolas Sarkozy, France
Nicolas Sarkozy became the first Gallic president to get divorced in spot when heseparated from his wife , Cécilia , in 2007 . It only took a year for Sarkozy to marry Carla Bruni , a Isaac M. Singer - songwriter and former theoretical account who can look Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton as exes . The couple is still together , living in Pariswith her son from another marriage ceremony and their baby girl .
2. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Italy
Considering Silvio Berlusconi ’s legendary philandering and fondness for " bunga - bunga " parties , it was n’t a surprise when he got divorced from his married woman , former actress Veronica Lario , in 2009 . sooner this yearhe blamed"feminist , Communist Book of Judges " for reportedly pull him to bear Lario 26 million euros a year .
3. President Alvaro Colom, Guatemala
One of the only world leaders to be accuse of a sham divorce , President Alvaro Colomfiled for divorcefrom his wife , Sandra Torres , in March 2011 . At the time , his opponents called it a " misanthropic political ploy " to skirt a law saying that close-fitting relative of the chairwoman could n’t run for office . Despite the detachment , the lawcourt rule she wasstill violating the constitutionwhen seek to succeed her married man , pave the way for eventual presidential succeeder Otto Perez Molina .
4. President Nelson Mandela, South Africa
The 38 - year matrimony between Nelson Mandela and his wife , Winnie , survived apartheidbut ended six years after he was released from prison . In a 1996 Margaret Court preceding , the 77 - year - old Mandela claimed Winnie was having an social function . The two had only been married for five years when Mandela was sentenced to prison in 1963 on political heraldic bearing .
5. President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela
Hugo Chavez was known for having a chain of mistresses , but he was only married doubly . He disjoint his second married woman , Venezuelan radio diarist Marisabel Rodriguez , in 2004 , withher blame his infidelityand him blaming her spoilt pettishness .
6. Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, Greece
Before Andreas Papandreou took office , fornication was a crime in Greece . He promptlyoverturned that law , and , unsurprisingly , proceeded to divorce Margaret , his wife of 38 year , in 1989 to splice his kept woman , Dimitra Liani , an air stewardess more than 30 years young than him .
7. President Alberto Fujimori, Peru
It does n’t get much mussy than this . Alberto Fujimori and his married woman , Susana Higuchi , file for divorcein 1995 after she accused his home of corruption and he accuse her of " unloyalty and blackmail . " The public engagement include him shut up her out of the presidential palace and telling the press he was looking for a newfangled wife " who is intelligent and has beautiful legs . " In 2006,he gotremarriedfrom his jail cell in Chile , where he was being held on corruption charges .
8. King Henry VIII, England
Perhaps the only divorcement to goad an entirely new religion , Henry VIII split from Catherine of Aragon after descend in love with Anne Boleyn , the sister of his mistress , Mary Boleyn . After failing to get an annulment from Rome , Henrymarried Anne in 1533 , pave the way for him to become the supreme leader of the Church of England . Boleyn was the second of his eventual six wives and the first one to be execute .
Sources : Associated Press , BBC(2)(3)(4),The Guardian(2),The Huffington Post , The New York Times , Reuters , The Telegraph
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