Party over for Supercouple

Whether we expected it or not, the Hugh and Liz show has hit the buffers. Not with the calamitous drama of a fit of pique on the red carpet of a premiere party, as we might have expected, or maybe even secretly desired. And not even with a transatlantic dash in Concorde by the actor to sweep the girl off her feet, promising la Hurley he wouldn't stray again. Or should that be the other way round? No, it's all been rather low key, rather . . . well, English.

By the standards of the celebrity break-up we have come to expect, even this side of Hollywood, the Grant-Hurley split has crept up rather like an unwelcome guest at a party.

We could see it coming somewhere in the distance, but we couldn't quite get out of the way in time. The script was supposed to run along the lines of that other famous English Elizabeth, who, despite her liking for white dresses and wedding breakfasts, was indulged in attempts number five, six, seven and eight because we all knew that Richard Burton was the love of her life.

Now Britain's modern-day Taylor and Burton - Hurley and Grant - must go their separate, glittering ways down the premiere carpet of the celebrity circuit. Liz, clad in something revealing from Versace, will play the role of the celebrity to perfection, even if she feels thoroughly rotten inside, while Hugh will blink and mumble as the paparazzis' flash-bulbs are thrust in his face.

For this is what we have come to expect from Hugh and Liz. They have played the A-list English couple for so long that even though we knew they were more like brother and sister than Mills and Boon, it worked because the relationship had all the trappings of identikit celebrity royals. The fact that they have separated, however, only means each will play the celebrity role minus the other half.

Yet it's hard to remember when a tabloid newspaper or Hello! spread didn't feature either or both of the photogenic duo. From Hurley's Versace dress held together with pins at the premiere of Four Weddings and a Funeral and subsequent move into the rarefied world of Estee Lauder, to Grant's cringemaking police mug-shot after his arrest in Los Angeles, there's been no escape.

We've had Liz promoting perfume, Liz sucking a dummy, Hugh grinning like a chimpanzee, Liz promoting lip-plumping lipstick and Liz promoting . . . well, more lipstick. And this week, the best of all: Liz getting into a taxi wearing a pair of Chloe sunglasses in the rain.

But it wasn't always like this for Hugh and Liz. They met 13 years ago on a film set in Spain when the former punk-rocker from Basingstoke fell in love with the soldier's son with a ready line in bumbling, upper-crust Englishmen.

With their celebrity status doubled, they spent the intervening years riding the Los Angeles merry-go-round. Liz joined the expat Hollywood Brit pack, but no one seems to remember if she actually appeared in any films. And Hugh? Well, Hugh perfected the bumbling, upper-crust Englishman role.

It all changed with Four Weddings. Having starred in one of the most successful British films to date, Hugh could have been forgiven for wanting to hog the limelight. That the dynamic of Hugh and Liz's relationship should change beyond all recognition as the result of a dress held together with pins is testament to the power of the Supercouple.

Whirling through the party circuit, Hugh and Liz were soon on their way to the top of the Supercouple tree. There were parties with Elton John and Liz flashed her knickers at the wedding of her friends Henry Dent-Brocklehurst and Lili Maltese.

Hugh got to kiss Julia Roberts in Notting Hill and starred in Austin Powers. And while antics of Posh and Becks horrified the delicate tastes of Vogue readers, Hugh and Liz played the game just right. OK, so the script was always the same, but Liz hasn't done too badly wearing the uniform of the Supercouple - typically revealing but expensive Versace/Gucci - while Hugh provides the arm with which to guide her past the photographers.

Even the Divine Brown prostitute incident in 1995 couldn't stop them. After the initial media scrum had died down, a humbled Hugh appeared on US television declaring he had done something "insane", while Liz admitted she felt like she had been shot. The Supercouple retreated to the English countryside to repair their relationship. And even though Hugh compared Liz's temper to that of Hitler's mistress Eva Braun - "we've been deep in the bunker, me and Eva Braun. It's been terrifying and overwhelming" - they limped on.

Five years later and Hugh and Liz have come to the end of the road, albeit temporarily. In that very English way, the Supercouple will continue to live at their Chelsea townhouse and work together at their production company, Simian. It probably won't be long though, before Liz moves to Hollywood.

Hugh will retreat to the pub, and the party circuit will never quite be the same again.