On holiday in Mexico with her two young children last week, Kate Winslet appeared keen to put her split from second husband Sam Mendes behind her.

Playing hostess to a group of friends during an afternoon of sunbaking and swimming, the British star kept a stiff upper lip, her face fixed in a permanent smile … if only for the sake of her kids, Mia, 9 – who has already been through one divorce – and Joe, 6.

The getaway helped Kate shield her children from the British headlines announcing to the world that, just six years after they tied the knot, Kate and her Oscar-winning director husband, 44, have officially separated.

In a short joint statement released last week through British law firm Shillings, it was revealed their marriage had actually come to an end earlier this year.

“The split is entirely amicable and is by mutual agreement. Both parties are fully committed to the future joint parenting of their children.”

It was a startling end to a relationship whose beginnings controversially coincided with the collapse of her first marriage, to assistant director Jim Threapleton.

As recently as the Oscars, 34-year-old Kate was insisting all was well, laughing off her husband’s red-carpet absence on babysitting” grounds – the same excuse she used at the BAFTAS a few weeks earlier.

But clearly troubles have been afoot for a while, with the pair not seen together publicly since Wimbledon, almost a year ago.

For the full story see this week's Woman's Day, on sale March 22, 2010.