Winslet: Split sad but amicable

Winslet says there is "no malice" in the separation

Actress Kate Winslet has spoken of her regret over her "absolutely amicable" split from husband Jim Threapleton.

Winslet met Threapleton on the set of Hideous Kinky

The couple confirmed on Monday they were to end their three-year marriage.

"This is an absolutely amicable separation and it is a mutual decision between both of us," Winslet told reporters on Tuesday.

"Jim and I have great respect for each other. There is no malice at all. It is extremely sad but we are all fine."

Arguments

Meanwhile Threapleton's grandfather, Norman, told a tabloid newspaper that Winslet's success had put enormous pressure on the couple.

He said that his grandson wanted to be recognised in his own right and not "just as Kate's husband".

"She's a star while Jim is trying to make his way in his own field," he told the Mirror.

"Jim is a bit of a quiet type and I don't know whether all this theatrical and film life has gone down well with him."

Baby Mia was born in October 2000

The Titanic star has taken the couple's daughter Mia and moved back into the north London flat she used to share with her sister.

It had been reported that the split came after weeks of arguments between the couple.

The actress, who asked reporters to respect the pair's privacy, added: "Jim and I are both communicating constantly. Mia remains the happy child that she always has been."

'Priority'

Winslet's spokesman Robert Garlock said nobody else was involved.

"Their daughter Mia will remain first priority for both of them," he said.

She later left the flat with her daughter, accompanied by a security guard, an assistant and another woman.

Winslet and Threapleton married in 1998

The couple had been living with Mia at the couple's riverside home in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey.

But she has been seen coming and going from her old flat in Islington, north London, over the last six weeks, according to neighbours.

"She is staying here. I see her almost every day," said barrister Martin Louis, 48.

"I think she has been here for about six weeks."

The tenant in the flat below Miss Winslet's said he had heard a couple arguing upstairs on Monday night and on Tuesday morning, but could not say who it was.

The actress, whose new film Enigma is to be released soon, met assistant director Threapleton during the filming of Hideous Kinky in Morocco in 1997.

She became an international celebrity after appearing in the blockbuster movie Titanic, and followed up that success with a host of appearances in smaller, low-key movies.