Tory minister Zac Goldsmith's life as dad-of-six, two ex-wives, cheating scandal

01 July 2023 , 21:04

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Lord Goldsmith announced he had split from his wife Alice Rothschild in March this year (Image: Getty)

Zac Goldsmith has made headlines after handing in his notice as minister while accusing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of being "simply uninterested" in the environment.

It comes a day after the Tory peer was named and shamed for attempting to undermine a Commons probe into former PM Boris Johnson's Partygate lies.

The recent news has sparked interest in Lord Goldsmith, who is the son of a billionaire businessman with an estimated net worth of £300 million.

Just last month, Goldsmith announced that he had separated from his wife, Alice Rothschild, after 10 years of marriage and three young children together.

Zac Goldsmith and Alice Rothschild were married for 10 years and had three young children together (Getty)

"Alice and Zac have made the difficult decision to separate," a spokesman told Daily Mail. "They do so amicably, and are committed to jointly raising their three children in a happy and healthy environment."

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The couple have a nine-year-old daughter Dolly, seven-year-old son Max and second daughter Edie, aged five.

Goldsmith married banking heiress Alice in 2013 at London Wetland Centre, in a tiny thatched cottage on the nature reserve, which cost just £500 to hire.

The small ceremony, with 42 guests, was in stark contrast to Goldsmith's first wedding to his former wife, British environmentalist Sheherazade Ventura-Bentley.

Their wedding celebrations were much more large and lavish, with 350 people attending the ceremony at the Ritz Hotel in London in 1999.

The Tory peer was married to his first wife Sheherazade Ventura-Bentley for 10 years (Steve Wood / Rex Features)

The millionaire publicly admitted to adultery when the couple divorced in 2010 (PA)

The pair were also married for 10 years and had three children together, two daughters, Uma Romaine and Thyra, and one son, James, before they split.

Sheherazade was said to have heard rumours about her husband cheating, and on May 10, 2010, in a hearing that lasted just 30 seconds, the Goldsmiths were granted a decree nisi.

At the time, Zac publicly confessed to adultery and lost an estimated £20 million in the settlement, though the amount was never confirmed.

Although the other woman was not named, Goldsmith was quickly linked to Alice, who was the sister of his brother's then-wife, Kate.

Three years later, in 2013, the pair wed and the Goldsmith family moved into a house in Barnes.

Nia Dalton