End of a marriage made in international celebrity heaven

By DANIELLE DEMETRIOU in London

Imran Khan's nine-year marriage to Jemima Goldsmith has ended, says the former Pakistani cricketer.

The couple have spent little time together since Jemima Khan returned to Britain last year with their two sons while Khan remained in Pakistan pursuing his political career.

There were hints yesterday that the separation was attributed to the incompatibility of Khan's political life in Pakistan with that of his wife in London. Khan said: "I can confirm that Jemima and I are divorced. My home and future are in Pakistan.

"Whilst Jemima has tried her very best to adapt to life in Pakistan over the last nine years, my political life has made it particularly difficult for her. This was a mutual decision and was clearly very sad for both of us. We remain on very good terms and our children will always be our first priority."

The couple married in 1995, first with a service in Paris then in an Islamic ceremony in Lahore. To many observers they appeared an unlikely match.

Jemima Khan was the 21-year-old daughter of the late billionaire Sir James Goldsmith and a fixture on the London party scene. Khan, more famous for his cricketing exploits than his political ambitions, had acquired a reputation as an international Lothario.

Sita White, daughter of Lord White of Hanson, won a paternity suit claiming that Khan was the father of her 12-year-old daughter, Tyrian. White, 43, died last month.

The marriage of Imran and Jemima prompted an immediate transformation of their public personas.

Khan shed his playboy image to launch himself into the political arena, and his wife converted to Islam and swapped designer clothes for the shalwar kameez.

As well as joining the campaign trail with her husband, addressing crowds of Muslim women in halting Urdu, she devoted herself to raising their two sons Sulaiman, now 7, and Qasim, 4. Speculation began to mount over their relationship when Jemima Khan moved to the UK with the two children last year to begin a master's degree at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Khan remained at their home in Pakistan, working as political head of the Tehreek-e-Insaf Party.

Since Khan won international acclaim for captaining Pakistan's cricket team during its World Cup victory in 1992, he has devoted himself to politics.

- INDEPENDENT