Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin announced their split back in 2014 after thirteen years of marriage. In a new essay penned for British Vogue, Paltrow revealed when she knew her marriage was over and how she handled the realization. The actress wrote she first had the realization during a trip to the Tuscan countryside for her 38th birthday.
"Fall was coming; the leaves were just loosening their grip on bright green. Inside, the cottage was perfectly appointed in the way you dream of for a birthday trip: cozy living room with a fireplace, kitchen table overflowing with spoils from the farm nearbyโpeaches, tomatoes on the vine, basil, eggs," she wrote. "I don't recall when it happened, exactly. I don't remember which day of the weekend it was or the time of day. But I knewโdespite long walks and longer lie-ins, big glasses of Barolo and hands heldโmy marriage was over."
Despite knowing her marriage was over, Paltrow noted "it would be years" until she and Martin actually split. "But, that weekend, a dam had cracked just enough to hear the unrelenting trickle of truth. And it grew louder until it was all I could hear."
Paltrowย also shared that, though she and Martin "were close" and "had always been friends," the pair "had never fully settled into being a couple." According to Paltrow, they just didn't quite fit together. There was always a bit of unease and unrest. But man, did we love our children." The exes share 16-year-old Apple Martin and 14-year-old Moses Martin.
Though their marriage didn't work out, Paltrow and Martin have remained close in the years since they announced their divorce. "I know my ex-husband was meant to be the father of my children," Paltrow wrote. "And I know my current husband is meant to be the person I grow very old with," Paltrow wrote. "Conscious uncoupling lets us recognize those two different loves can coexist and nourish each other."ย
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