LOS ANGELES — The partnership of Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger was a collision of two worlds, an unlikely but watchable match.
Twenty five years ago, when they married, Shriver was a child of American Democratic political royalty — pedigreed, pampered and with a professional ambition unusual for the women of her clan. Schwarzenegger was a fading strongman and minor movie actor with immigrant dreams as outlandishly big as his biceps.
Schwarzenegger, 63, would go on to world domination — of the cinematic sort, as a top international box office star — and then the California governor’s office. Shriver, 55, who became a top talent in NBC’s news division, dialed back her career to care for their four children, then relinquished her job altogether when her husband became governor in 2003. It was a bond that survived its share of tests.
Schwarzenegger and Shriver announced their separation Monday, a split that marks the foundering of one of America’s most famous marriages, and signals that each will face a future absent the partnership that had so defined them.
While many friends said they were surprised by the announcement, two distinctly different narratives were emerging Tuesday about the breakup. Some close to Schwarzenegger spoke of a loving marriage that slowly broke apart over time. Friends of Shriver portrayed her as trapped for years in an unhappy relationship that reached a breaking point after the deaths of her parents and a difficult transition back to private life.
“Everyone who’s shocked by this is reacting to the fairy-tale picture that was promoted,” said a friend who has been a frequent visitor to the couple’s mansion in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and did not want to be identified as breaching the couple’s confidence. The death in August 2009 of Shriver’s mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, said this friend, marked a turning point. Her father, Sargent Shriver, the Peace Corps founder, died in January.
“There was such a void,” said the friend, “and when she looked around, she realized her husband could never even think of filling it.”
When asked why Shriver stayed for so long if she was so unhappy, the friend responded: “Part of it is family legacy, part of it is Catholicism. But the most important thing was their four kids.”
It is not clear when Shriver moved out, but a former Schwarzenegger administration official said he had heard about the couple’s split in January. He said that although the pair had a complicated relationship, they were affectionate and showed “a genuine, deep love.”
Family was Schwarzenegger’s top priority, said the former official. “When she called, everything would stop. If the kids called, everything would stop,” this person said. “They were very focused on raising the kids.”
The oldest children, Katherine, 21, and Christina, 19, are at college. Patrick, 17, is a high school senior. Christopher is 13.
