French President Francois Hollande and First Lady Split After Alleged Affair

Not everyone can pull a "Hillary Clinton!" 

After two weeks of embarrassing tabloid revelations, France's first couple has called it quits. French president Francoise Hollande and longtime partner Valérie Trierweiler have officially separated, with Hollande announcing "the end of their life together." 

In a statement made to Agence France-Presse, Hollande, speaking as a private citizen, said, "I have ended the life in common that I have shared with Valérie Trierweiler."  Saturday's brief announcement ends an unprecedented 18-month period in which Trierweiler, 48,had been France's de facto first lady. A twice-divorced mother of three, Trierweiler had been Hollande's companion and partner since 2007. 

 The love triangle – involving an unwed president, his longtime girlfriend and a second paramour, living 60 yards from the presidential palace – has dominated French politics since tabloid Closer first claimed on Jan. 9 that Hollande, 59, had an affair with actress Julie Gayet, 41 (inset).

Trierweiler was hospitalized shortly after, with media outlets speculating that the alleged affair had taken a toll on her health.
 

The allegations, which Hollande has never denied, surfaced at the president's annual New Year's presidential press conference on Jan. 14, where the president was asked whether Trierweiler should still be considered the nation's first lady.

Trieweiler left La Lanterne, the presidential retreat in Versailles where she had been recuperating since leaving the hospital, before Hollande announced their split on Saturday.