It is the question that has been dominating Washington dinner parties for weeks – could the once-golden First Couple of the United States really be heading for the rocks? If rumours are to be believed, the 21-year marriage of Barack and Michelle Obama has been racked by screaming rows, allegations of infidelity and a string of jealous fights. While the White House has refused to comment on the reports there has been a distinct frostiness in the air between the couple in recent months.

The ‘final straw’, apparently, was Michelle’s outrage when her husband publicly humiliated her by openly flirting and posing for his now infamous ‘selfie’ photograph with Denmark’s glamorous blonde Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service. According to published reports, Mrs Obama is only standing by her 52-year-old husband until his presidency ends. At her 50th birthday celebrations she was rarely by her husband’s side, with one guest saying: ‘She was working the room.