Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney and his wife Heather Mills are to separate after four years of marriage.
A joint statement said they had "found it increasingly difficult to maintain a normal relationship with constant intrusion into our private lives".
Sir Paul and Mills, a former model, married in June 2002. They had a daughter, Beatrice, a year later.
They met in 1999 through Mills' work for her charity, launched after losing a leg in a motorbike accident in 1993.
The statement said: "Having tried exceptionally hard to make our relationship work given the daily pressures surrounding us, it is with sadness that we have decided to go our separate ways.
"Our parting is amicable and both of us still care about each other very much but have found it increasingly difficult to maintain a normal relationship with constant intrusion into our private lives, and we have actively tried to protect the privacy of our child.
"Separation for any couple is difficult enough, but to have to go through this so publicly, especially with a small daughter, is immensely stressful.
"We hope, for the sake of our baby daughter, that we will be given some space and time to get through this difficult period."
Source
A joint statement said they had "found it increasingly difficult to maintain a normal relationship with constant intrusion into our private lives".
Sir Paul and Mills, a former model, married in June 2002. They had a daughter, Beatrice, a year later.
They met in 1999 through Mills' work for her charity, launched after losing a leg in a motorbike accident in 1993.
The statement said: "Having tried exceptionally hard to make our relationship work given the daily pressures surrounding us, it is with sadness that we have decided to go our separate ways.
"Our parting is amicable and both of us still care about each other very much but have found it increasingly difficult to maintain a normal relationship with constant intrusion into our private lives, and we have actively tried to protect the privacy of our child.
"Separation for any couple is difficult enough, but to have to go through this so publicly, especially with a small daughter, is immensely stressful.
"We hope, for the sake of our baby daughter, that we will be given some space and time to get through this difficult period."
Source