Ellie Goulding‘s estranged husband narrowly missed an awkward crossing of paths with her Eton educated new friend as he ventured out on Tuesday morning.
Still wearing his wedding ring, Caspar Jopling was seen as he paid a visit to a local bakery, perhaps unaware that Zac Goldsmith had exited the same establishment just minutes earlier.
The art dealer, 31, is understood to be living apart from Goulding, with whom he shares two-year old son Arthur, little more than four-years after their lavish wedding ceremony.
Goulding, 36, has since formed an unlikely bond with Tory peer Goldsmith – the son of late billionaire financier Sir James Goldsmith – over their shared passion for environmental issues.
The 48-year old, a father-of-six, was seen leaving the bakery in trendy London’s Notting Hill before occupying an outdoor table with his daughter.
Near miss: Ellie Goulding’s estranged husband Caspar Jopling narrowly missed crossing of paths with her Eton educated new friend as he ventured out on Tuesday morning
Incoming: Jopling was seen as he paid a visit to a local bakery, perhaps unaware that Zac Goldsmith had exited the same establishment just minutes earlier
In June The Daily Mail Daily revealed that Goulding and her husband have been living separate lives for at least six months, despite trying to stick together for the sake of their son.
Meanwhile Goldsmith is also going through a marriage split, with his divorce from second wife Alice, after more than a decade together, expected soon.
But the stronger common link between the pair is their passion for the environment. They first met at the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow, in November 2021 and kept in contact.
Seven months later they were spotted enjoying a lunch together at upmarket cafe The Garden in Covent Garden, Central London, and were later seen at The Wolseley restaurant in Mayfair.
In October 2022 they spent the evening at the same party at the exclusive London members club LouLou’s at 5 Hertford Street and just weeks later they were reunited for the next global climate change summit, COP27, in Egypt.
Writing about the event in The Guardian, the singer praised her friend: ‘I attend a dinner with environment ministers and their teams from all over the world, convened by the UK’s Zac Goldsmith.
‘You could tell they were tired but ploughing on. What amazes me about this group is that they never stop trying to get a better deal for nature.’
One friend told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Ellie and Zac have a shared interest, saving the environment. They plainly know one another and talk away from their environmental work. They come from very different backgrounds but have struck up a friendship.’
Getting the message: The art dealer checked his phone after emerging in Notting Hill
Almost: Jopling and Goldsmith almost ran into each other after visiting the same west London bakery moments apart
Old times: But Goulding and Jopling have reportedly been living apart for at least six months (pictured at the Serpentine Summer Party in June)
There they are: Moments before Jopling’s arrival, Goldsmith, a father-of-six, was seen leaving the bakery in trendy London’s Notting Hill before occupying an outdoor table with his daughter.
Low-key: The Tory peer looked relaxed as he made his way towards an outdoor table
A spokesman for Goulding told the Daily Mail: ‘To say that Ellie speaks to Zac Goldsmith outside of work is completely untrue.’
Ellie’s team had been desperately trying to keep her troubles a secret, insisting that she and Eton-educated Jopling wanted it to remain a private matter.
The news came almost four years after the married in a star-studded ceremony at York Minster in 2019 with guests including Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, James Blunt, Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom.
Goulding was recently seen without her wedding and engagement ring when she attended the Serpentine Summer Party with her husband. The pair were pictured looking glum.
A source said: ‘Things have been bad for at least six months now, both parties have been really trying to be happy together for the sake of their son but these things can only take so long before it is untenable.
Close: Tory peer Goldsmith and singer Goulding have maintained an unlikely bond over their shared love of green issues, despite their wildly different upbringings
All over: Goldsmith pictured with second wife Alice Rothschild, who he is divorcing from after more than a decade together
‘Ellie’s team were insisting that she and Caspar were happy, that any suggestions of them being apart were totally untrue and now this. It has all been very mysterious indeed.
‘There had been suggestions of troubles and even a full on split for quite some time but they kept insisting everything is was totally fine.’
Goulding and Jopling – the son of former Tory MP Michael Jopling, 92 – were introduced in 2017 through their mutual friends – who include Beatrice and Eugenie.
A year later Jopling, who lived in New York at the time after studying at Harvard University proposed with a £70,000 engagement ring and they wed in the summer of 2019.
Following their nuptials, they held a lavish reception at Castle Howard, North Yorkshire.
Jopling now works for London auction house Sotheby’s.
