Together? Anna and David were spotted together leaving London's Groucho Club in the summer, when rumours of their split were already circulating
A friend told the Mail: ‘Things have not been great for a long time and they have tried to keep this quiet to protect everyone.

‘It certainly did not help that Anna and David have been forced to live apart for so long, but there are other issues at hand that have made them realise the relationship was over.’



Friends are still hopeful that the ­couple can resolve their differences. The source added: ‘They do care about each other very much, and the most important thing now is that they both continue to be the best parents they can be for Gracie.
‘They will have to see each other over Christmas at some point, but hopefully it will not be too painful.’
Happier times: Thewlis and Friel together in Los Angeles on Oscar night in 2008
The pair got together in 2001 after meeting on a flight to Cannes. They divided their time between a converted ballroom in Clerkenwell, central London, owned by Thewlis, and a house in Windsor owned by Miss Friel.
They then bought a house together in the leafy enclave of Beachwood ­Canyon in Hollywood together.

More...George Osborne 'gets down with the kids' as he cosies up to Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh at charity do

Miss Friel admitted their relationship was far from conventional, saying: ‘He’s 13 years older than me. We have our own separate properties and we’re not married.’



Suggestions were made that all was not well when Miss Friel was pictured kissing actor Joseph Cross, 23, her co-star in her West End play Breakfast At Tiffanys last December.
Kiss: Friel was spotted getting intimate with co-star Joseph Cross last December, although the actress insisted that they were just friends

High society girl: Friel pictured at the 2009 Cartier International Polo Day at the Guards Polo Club in Windsor Great Park
At the time, the former Brookside actress stressed that he was merely a friend.

And even when Cross moved into the couple’s Hollywood home in April, Thewlis said: ‘Joseph is a good friend of mine. I have no problem with him staying at my house.’
Thewlis, who wed director Sara ­Sugarman in 1992 but divorced a year later, told the Daily Mail in 2008 that marriage ‘is not a big issue for Anna and I'.

'We’ve talked about it, but it’s more important to have a baby,' he said.
'Marriage doesn't make any difference to the commitment.

'I've been married once and that didn't feel very important. The marriage was a little shaky from the start. We got married on a whim.

'I am a changed man because of Anna and Gracie. Anna changed me for the better, from a rather wild, restless character into a gentle soul. Gracie has changed me, too. I look at her and am filled with love. I cannot bare to be parted from either of them.’

He added: ‘I suppose you could say Anna and I are yin and yang. She's gregarious, very vivacious, very social, very tactile, very outgoing.'

Miss Friel rose to fame 17 years ago playing Beth Jordache in the Channel 4 soap Brookside and shocking TV viewers with the first-ever lesbian screen kiss.

The steamy kiss – and storyline in which she and her sister buried their sex-abusing father under the patio – guaranteed top ratings.

Her love life then kept her in the headlines as she dated Robbie Williams and serial love rat Darren Day.
Mr Thewlis has a starring role in the Harry Potter movie franchise as werewolf Remus Lupin and is currently on screen in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, while Miss Friel continues to win Hollywood roles.