Zac Goldsmith: Tory minister splits from wife Alice Rothschild after more than a decade of marriage

Millionaire Tory minister Zac Goldsmith has split from wife Alice Rothschild after more than a decade. The pair tied the knot in a 30-minute wedding in 2013 - four years after the MP ended his marriage with Sheherazade Bentley.

Both Mr Goldsmith and Ms Rothschild made the announcement in a joint statement to the Daily Mail on Wednesday (March 22). They admitted that they had made “the difficult decision to separate” and have done so “amicably”.

The statement reads: “Alice and Zac have made the difficult decision to separate. They do so amicably and are committed to jointly raising their three children in a happy and healthy environment - they ask, in the interests of all the family, that the media respects their privacy.”

This is the end of a second marriage for Zac Goldsmith, who has an estimated fortune of £300 million, divorcing first wife Sheherazade Bentley after she found out the Tory MP was having an affair with then sister-in-law Ms Rothchild.  Zac’s brother Ben had been wedded to Alice’s sister Kate, but it ended in 2012 after she cheated on him with rapper Jay Electronica.

The 48-year-old, who has been serving as the UK government’s Minister of State for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environment since 2022, first started his relationship with the banking heiress in 2006. After it was exposed by tabloids, Zac ended his first marriage and he and Alice tied the knot inside a thatched cottage in London in 2013.

Zac and Alice are parents to three young children; Dolly, 9, Max, 7 and Edie, 5.

Mr Goldsmith first became a Conservative MP at the 2010 general election when he took Richmond Park from the Liberal Democrats. He was then selected as the Tory candidate in the London mayoral election in 2016 when he lost out to Sadiq Khan.