Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin heading for splitsville

Actor Gwyneth Paltrow and her longtime singer-husband Chris Martin are to split after more than a decade of togetherness. She announced the piece in a blog titled “Conscious Uncoupling”.

The star couple wrote on Paltrow’s website, “It is with hearts full of sadness that we have decided to separate.” The couple has two children Apple, 9, and Moses, 7.

“We have been working hard for well over a year, some of it together, some of it solo, to see what might have been possible between us, and we have come to the conclusion that while we love each other very much we will remain separate. We are, however, and always will be a family, and in many ways we are closer than we have ever been.”

They said they were “parents first” and that they were ready to “uncouple and co-parent”. They asked for privacy for them and their children at this time of difficulty.

Martin, 37, the Grammy-winning lead vocalist of Coldplay, and Paltrow, 41, who won an Oscar for her performance in “Shakespeare in Love”, were among Hollywood's highest profile couples.

The duo frequently accompanied each other to public events, such as this year's Golden Globes ceremony and the Help Haiti Home gala earlier this year, but they rarely posed together on red carpets.

Chris Martin and Coldplay release their sixth album, Ghost Stories, this May.