After 25 years of marriage and four children, journalist Maria Shriver, 55, left the family home in Los Angeles earlier this year when she learned her husband Arnold Schwarzenegger, 63, had fathered a child more than a decade ago with a household employee.
On Monday evening (May 16), Schwarzenegger issued a statement issued to the L.A. Times: “After leaving the governor’s office I told my wife about this event, which occurred over a decade ago. I understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment among my friends and family. There are no excuses and I take full responsibility for the hurt I have caused. I have apologized to Maria, my children and my family. I am truly sorry.
"I ask that the media respect my wife and children through this extremely difficult time," the statement concluded. "While I deserve your attention and criticism, my family does not."
Yesterday, after the story was front page news, Shriver broke her silence.
“This is a painful and heartbreaking time. As a mother, my concern is for the children. I ask for compassion, respect and privacy as my children and I try to rebuild our lives and heal. I will have no further comment."
The couple has four children, Christopher, 13, Patrick, 17, Christina, age 19 and Katherine 21.
Patrick Schwarzenegger, 17, acknowledged the difficulty of being in the public eye, “Some days you feel like s––, some days you want to quit and just be normal for a bit," he wrote, "yet i love my family till death do us apart."