Ellie Goulding’s husband narrowly missed an awkward crossing of paths with her Eton-educated new boyfriend when he ventured out Tuesday morning.
Still wearing his wedding ring, Caspar Jopling was seen visiting a local bakery, perhaps unaware that Zac Goldsmith had left the same establishment minutes earlier.
The 31-year-old art dealer whose marriage to Goulding, with whom he shares a two-year-old son, is reportedly under strain just over four years after their lavish wedding ceremony.
Goulding, 36, has since formed an unlikely bond with Tory colleague Goldsmith – the son of the 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 London’s trendy Notting Hill before occupying an outdoor table with his daughter.
Near miss: Caspar Jopling, Ellie Goulding’s estranged husband, narrowly missed crossing paths with her Eton-educated new boyfriend when he ventured out Tuesday morning
Inbound: Jopling was spotted visiting a local bakery, perhaps unaware that Zac Goldsmith had left the same establishment minutes earlier
In June, The Daily Mail Daily revealed that Goulding and her husband goods trying to stay 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 couple is their passion for the environment. They first met at the COP26 UN climate conference in Glasgow in November 2021 and kept in touch.
Seven months later, they were spotted having lunch together at the posh café The Garden in Covent Garden, central London, and were later spotted 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 reunited for the next global climate summit, COP27, in Egypt.
Writing about the event in The Guardian, the singer praised her friend: “I am attending a dinner with environment ministers and their teams from around the world, convened by Britain’s Zac Goldsmith.
“You could tell they were tired but plowed on. What surprises me about this group is that they never stop trying to get a better deal for nature.’
A friend told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Ellie and Zac have a common interest: to save the environment. They clearly know each other and talk away from their environmental work. They have very different backgrounds, but have become friends.’
Received the message: The art dealer checked his phone after entering Notting Hill
Almost: Jopling and Goldsmith almost ran into each other after visiting the same West London bakery close to each other
Old Times: Goulding and Jopling are pictured at the Serpentine Summer Party in June
There they are: Moments before Jopling arrived, Goldsmith, a father of six, was seen leaving the bakery in London’s trendy Notting Hill before occupying an outdoor table with his daughter.
Quiet: The Tory colleague looked relaxed as he walked over to an outside table
A spokesman for Goulding told the Daily Mail: “To say that Ellie talks to Zac Goldsmith outside of work is completely untrue.”
Ellie’s team had desperately tried to keep her troubles a secret, insisting that she and the Eton-trained Jopling wanted it to remain a private matter.
The news came nearly four years after they 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 while attending the Serpentine Summer Party with her husband. The couple was pictured looking glum.
A source said: ‘Things have been going badly for at least six months now, both sides have really tried to be happy together for the sake of their son, but these things can only last so long before it’s unsustainable.
Close: Tory colleague Goldsmith and singer Goulding have maintained an unlikely bond due to their shared love of green issues, despite their vastly different upbringings
All over: Goldsmith pictured with second wife Alice Rothschild, who he’s divorcing after more than a decade together
Ellie’s team insisted that she and Caspar were happy, that any suggestions that they were breaking up were completely untrue and now this. It has indeed all been very mysterious.
“There had been suggestions of problems and even a full breakup for quite some time, but they insisted everything was fine.”
Goulding and Jopling – the son of former Tory MP Michael Jopling, 92 – were introduced to each other in 2017 through their mutual friends – including Beatrice and Eugenie.
A year later, Jopling, who was living in New York at the time after studying at Harvard University, presided over a £70,000 engagement ring and they married in the summer of 2019.
After their wedding, they held a lavish reception at Castle Howard, North Yorkshire.
Jopling now works for the London auction house Sotheby’s.