No divorce for Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer
Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer are not getting divorced.
The 59-year-old writer recently left his Dresden Dolls singer wife and their four-year-old son Ash in New Zealand and flew to Scotland on his own after he and Amanda, 44, suffered some marriage difficulties but Neil insists they are not planning to split for good.
He wrote in a journal post: "The journey was surreal. It was also emotionally hard. Amanda and I had found ourselves in a rough place immediately before I left (my fault, I'm afraid, I'd hurt her feelings very badly, and... actually beyond that it's none of anyone else's business). We agreed that we needed to give each other some space, which had been in very short supply in lockdown in New Zealand. So it was a sad sort of flight, even without the world in lockdown, and a sad sort of drive.
"I needed to be somewhere I could talk to people in the UK while they and I were awake, not just before breakfast and after dinner. And I needed to be somewhere I could continue to isolate easily, which definitely isn't our house in Woodstock, currently at capacity with five families who have fled Manhattan and Brooklyn and Boston.
"Once the world opens up and travel gets easier Amanda and Ash and I are looking forward to being together again in Woodstock. (Yes, I've seen the newsfeed headlines saying I've moved to the UK, and even that we're divorcing. No, I haven't moved the UK, and yes, Amanda and I are still very much together, even with half a world between us.)
"Thank you to everyone who's been kind and nice and helpful, while Amanda and my problems got rather more public than either of us is comfortable with. We love each other, and we love Ash, and we will sort ourselves out, in private, which is much the best place for things like this."
Although Neil has asked for privacy, the world only discovered they were having marital problems after Amanda blogged about it on her Patreon page.
She wrote: "Since people are getting confused and asking and my phone and inbox is blowing up with 'where's Neil ?' a few times a minute ...
"I can only gather that he's finally told the internet that he's left New Zealand, and I thought I would come here with a short note.
"I'm still in lockdown here in New Zealand with 4-yr-old Ash for the foreseeable future.
"All i can say is that i'm heartbroken, I really am profoundly struggling and I need to call my community to me like never before. i need you (sic)."
Neil - who has an open marriage with Amanda - then followed up with his own Twitter message, writing: "I see @amandapalmer has told people that we (like much of the world) are going through rocky times right now.
"'It is true, we are. It's really hard, and I'd like to request privacy (as I'm not going to be talking about it publicly) and kindness, for us and for Ash."
