The breakup of Nicholas Tse (谢霆锋) and Cecilia Cheung (张柏芝) is considered to be the end of a fairytale romance.

But who would want it?

Their wedding five years ago was regarded as the union of celebrity royalty, as Nicholas is the son of actors Patrick Tse (谢贤) and Deborah Lee (狄波拉), while Cecilia was a lemon tea advert girl at a young age thanks to the help of her triad gangster father. She later became the protégé of actor and director Stephen Chow (周星驰), who has stuck by her through thick-and-thin.

Netizens are now greeting the breakup of Nicholas and Cecilia as a modern-day love tragedy.

But, let’s look behind the headlines to see what a fairytale romance really looks like, warts ‘n’ all.

First off, in 2002, Nicholas cheated on what was then his girlfriend, the divine Faye Wong (王菲), by forming a relationship with Cecilia.

They broke up and got back together again, then secretly married in 2006.

It’s not quite sure exactly when but around this time Cecilia started having an affair with Edison Chen (陈冠希) and the photos from this sordid love match were exposed to the world  in 2008.

Nicholas forgave his wife, since they had a son, Lucas, in 2007 — who is now, understandably, the subject of a paternity test.

They had another son, Quintus, and there seemed to be light at the end of the tunnel again for the first couple in Hong Kong’s celebrity circle.

Then, recently, Cecilia was caught out meeting up with Edison, both publicly and privately at a hotel.

Nicholas made it known Cecilia had been trying to siphon off his earnings and was a manic-depressive liar.

She responded that Nicholas hated children and was having affairs.

Deborah reportedly bitch-slapped Cecilia for making a mug of her son.

And this is just the beginning of divorce proceedings. More dirt is guaranteed as the couple fight for control of their kids and assets.

This, my friends, is what a fairytale really looks like. The reality.

So, next time you look at the headlines and want to believe in the beautiful romance publicity people churn out, think twice.

You should be so lucky!