RALEIGH, N.C. — Elizabeth Edwards has separated from her husband, two-time presidential candidate John Edwards, after a tumultuous three years in which the couple’s marital troubles became tabloid fodder.
Andrea Purse, a friend of Elizabeth Edwards’, confirmed Wednesday that the 60-year-old mother of four has separated from her husband. North Carolina law requires couples to be separated for a year before divorcing.
“Elizabeth is moving on with her life and wants to put this difficult chapter behind her,” a statement released by Purse said, referring to unflattering details of her marriage and her husband’s affair that are emerging from an upcoming tell-all book.
The book is written by longtime Edwards aide Andrew Young, who initially claimed that he fathered a child with John Edwards’ mistress in the weeks leading up to the crucial presidential primaries.
John Edwards publicly declared last week that he was the father of the child with Rielle Hunter, who worked as a videographer before his second presidential campaign in 2008.
Young’s book details how Edwards went to great lengths to hide the affair. In excerpts from an ABC News interview, Young said Edwards asked him to find a doctor who might fake a paternity test and asked him to steal a diaper from the baby, now almost 2, to determine whether it was really his.
He also claims the married couple sought to politicize her cancer diagnosis.
The statement released on behalf of Elizabeth Edwards said she will not engage in a dialogue on “false charges” in the book.
Edwards declined to comment further.
John Edwards, a former North Carolina senator and 2004 Democratic vice presidential candidate, has largely stayed secluded since first admitting the affair in August 2008. He denied fathering a child with Hunter at that time. He has acknowledged a federal investigation into his campaign finances.
Edwards spent part of last week in Haiti helping with earthquake relief.
