The love story between former Prime Minister Bob Hawke and his second wife Blanche d’Alpuget is one that has captured our hearts.
It was built on deep physical chemistry, it was passionate and, at one stage, it was conducted very much in private as both were married to others.
After a steamy affair in the 70s, each would return to their first marriages but that love – and enduring lust – didn’t go away.
In 1995, two decades after their first clandestine tryst, Blanche and Bob married as an older but still passionately entwined couple.
Their love story is a romantic – and deeply sexy – tale of finding a deep and powerful connection the second-time around.
When they married each other both were older – Bob was 64 and Blanche 14 years his junior at 50. They had had their children with their first spouses – Bob had three with his childhood sweetheart Hazel and Blanche had a son with first husband Tony Pratt.
All that young married stuff was behind them. This marriage could just be about them finally being able to be together openly, enjoying each other’s company.
But after 25 years as husband and wife, it has ended. Bob Hawke, aged 89, died on May 16, 2019.
Now Blanche has been interviewed for the first time since his death on the ABC’s 7.30 Report – and there was one part of the interview that would have made every woman (and man) in a relationship rethink what they wanted.
Bob and Blanche on their wedding day in 1995.
(Credit: Getty)When asked about the couple’s last year together, Blanche said it was a time she would treasure forever, and when their love deepened even further.
“We were so close and intimate during that time, while I was his main carer,” Blanche said of their final 12 months. “And we often said to each other, we’ve been blessed to have this period together.”
But it’s this comment that makes the heart jolt: “We didn’t have the joy of young love. He had that with Hazel. We had the joy of mature love and then the love of old age.”
She added: “People don’t realise – now I really am not going to cry – how wonderful it can be to look after somebody you love when they’re old and dying.
“There’s a great deal of intimacy. There are no secrets, there are no pretences. You’re getting the true human being on both sides.”
And with that, everyone in a committed relationship would have looked across at their significant and thought: “Do I have this with him/her? Do I want this with him/her? Could I find it somewhere else?”
You can watch the full interview on YouTube.
The couple enjoyed a long love affair for over 20 years.
(Credit: Getty)Second marriages aren’t billed as successful. US figures claim that about half of first marriages end in divorce, while 67 per cent of second marriages also end, a whopping 73 per cent of third marriages will fail.
But for Blanche and Bob, if true love and finding a soul mate does exist, this seemed to be what they found second time around.
WATCH BELOW: Bob Hawke’s wife Blanche d’Alpuget breaks down talking about his death. Story continues after video.
And they’re not alone. There are quite a few success stories of couples find true love second time around. Some of these were due to their first partner dying, others were because in the second part of their life they sought s different partner.
And while we are no way encouraging everyone to dump their partner to seek their ‘soul mate’ – if they feel they haven’t found him or her yet – it’s heartening to see examples of successful second-time-around love.
Princes Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles
Like Bob and Blanche, the love affair between Camilla and Charles started decades before they were actually free to marry.
(Credit: Getty)These two met when still young and unmarried at a polo match in 1970. And there marked the start of a most enduring love story.
Both 23 at the time, the began dating. But duty called for Prince Charles and while he was taking part in naval duties she married Andrew Parker Bowles with whom she would have two children.
As we all know, Charles went on to marry Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 – but it seems his heart was just not in it.
Five years into his marriage, Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles started an affair, which Charles later admitted to, Diana found out and eventually the pair went on to divorce. Camilla also divorced Andrew.
Both Charles and Camilla may have been single, but their first official public ‘date’ wasn’t until 1999, two years after Diana’s death. Later that year, Camilla was introduced to Prince William and Prince Harry.
After years of dating, in 2005 the couple were delighted to announce their engagement.
Thirty five years after their first meeting in a civil ceremony, Charles and Camilla married followed by a wedding blessing at St George’s Chapel in Windsor.
And to this day, photographers continue to snap the couple staring adoringly at each other.
Read about Charles and Camilla’s enduring love
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban
Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman have set the bar high for relationship goals, with their loved-up moments all over the red carpetsas well as the beyond-sweet romantic comments that often make about each other.
It was a whirlwind romance, and it hit some hurdles pretty early in the game, but theirs is a love that has endured and fascinated, since tying the knot at St Patrick’s Estate in Sydney’s iconic Manly in June, 2006.
From meeting, to rehab, welcoming kids and more, their romance has it all.
Read more: Inside Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s love story
