“Sometimes, when Helga seems overworked and over stressed I suggest that she should slow down and take less on, but I know that it’s usually just a phase and that she’ll have it all under control pretty quickly. One thing that helps her unwind is cooking. In fact she tries to do this every day after work. We also love having guests over for lunch or dinner. Everybody loves her food and so do I.”
“The kitchen is probably the only place where we drive each other crazy though.  Since we are both perfectionists, sometimes we clash about silly matters, like how to slice a tomato,” he concludes with a smile.

David Buttigieg, 44, has been married to TV presenter-producer Claudette Pace for the past 10 years. David is self-employed, and has successfully recovered from a life-threatening triple-stroke. David and Claudette have an eight year old daughter, Kristina.

“When I met Claudette she was already a public figure,” explains David. “I was immediately attracted to her character and how easy it was for us to communicate – we spent hours on end talking and chatting, particularly about music.”

“When our daughter was born, we decided to switch the traditional parenting roles, so, I now spend more time at home than Claudette. I take care of Kristina when she comes home from school, cook her lunch, help her with her homework, and if Claudette is working late, I also prepare dinner.  If she gets home early, she gets to cooks herself as it helps her unwind. At first my friends thought that this change in roles was a bit odd, but now everyone is used to it.”

“Kristina is fully aware that her mother is a public figure, and that we have to be careful about what we do in public. Not that we do silly things of course, but since people look up to Claudette, we have to be particularly careful not to send out the wrong message through our behaviour, including that of our daughter.”

“I don’t mind that Claudette is very well known,” says David, “because although the attention can be daunting, it also has its advantages.  When I call someone on the phone for instance, and tell him my name, the answer is usually ‘David who?’ When on the other hand I say ‘David, Claudette’s husband,’ I immediately get, ‘Oh ok, tell me.’

David is very proud that Claudette has a softer side that she reserves exclusively for him, but he is also very familiar with her strong mindedness. “Claudette is entirely capable of driving me crazy,” says David humorously, “when she sticks something into her mind and won’t let it go, it’s Oh My God! The other thing that drives me up the wall and round the bend is her incompatibility with being on time – Claudette and timeliness are like petrol and fire, if you know what I mean,” he adds.

“I have very simple advice for whoever gets into a relationship with someone so well known,” says David. “Love your partner for what they are and not for what they do, and learn to ignore the trivial things in life, because they have the potential of distracting a relationship big time!

Victor Cristina is 62. He’s a retired Architect and Civil Engineer and has been married to Hons. Dolores Cristina –  Minister for Education and Employment – for the past 35 years. They have four children and four grandchildren.

“When I first met Dolores I had no idea that she would ever get into public life,” says Victor.  “I certainly had no idea that she would get into politics,” he adds. “For a long number years into our marriage, Dolores was a stay-at- home mum, and I worked abroad for almost a decade.”

“Public life kind of crept up on us,” says Victor. “First she became President of the National Council of Women, and then, at the end of her term she was asked to contest the next elections. She was very reluctant to do so, but by then, I felt that it was the logical step for her to take, and I fully encouraged her to do so. “

“Our children are used to having lively discussions about everything under the sun, and I think that as a family we were lucky that Dolores moved into politics in her late forties. By that time our first three children were teenagers but our youngest, Anthony, was still six years old. The dynamics within the family were conducive towards her taking on this commitment, even though on occasion, the children say something which reveals when they were younger they sometimes wished that we had remained a traditional family. Personally though, I think that Dolores’ public role enriched our family life.”

“Helping around the house was never an issue,” explains Victor. “I was brought up in a large family where my siblings and I, irrespective of our gender, were expected to pull our weight, consequently, I have never found it difficult to help around the house.  Luckily, I also enjoy cooking and I am told that I am a good cook, and though I’m sure that  some might see me as the second wheel, I’ve never let this bother me. In fact I find it quite amusing to watch people flounder in their conversation as they attempt to work out what makes our relationship tick.”

“Anyone entering a relationship with a politician should know that it is not a bed of roses,” says Victor.  “Dolores is often criticized publically but it only gets to me when it’s unjustified criticism or an outright spin.  Politics, especially at certain levels, tend to take over family life at times, and it’s difficult to understand all the pressures that assail a politician. The most important thing to remember is that once you have given your support you cannot simply withdraw when the going gets tough. That’s when it’s most needed.”

For the past 38 years, Victor Laiviera, has been married to Renee Laiviera – Chair, Malta Confederation of Women’s Organisations. They have a son, and Victor considers reaching the age of 65 healthy and relatively sane, as one of his biggest life achievements.

“When I first met Renee, she was very active in sports,” explains Victor. “Though she wasn’t as out there as she is today, I always knew that she was not one to take a back seat. I don’t think I ever gave this a second thought as it is clearly who she is and I can’t imagine her being different.”

When it came to starting a family, Renee and Victor considered the pros and cons of such a lifestyle. They figured that whilst children in a traditional family would perhaps, have a more settled and secure environment, children in a more modern setting would have a more varied input and a wider outlook on life. “I believe that as long as children feel secure of their parents’ love, they can adapt to the particular circumstances of the family,” adds Victor.  “Since Renee’s role is not the traditional one, my role in the family isn’t either, but as long as partners adapt to each other, then it can all work well.”

Victor does not think that their relationship would have been any different had Renee not been such a public figure. “No two relationships are alike,” he explains, “each relationship is sui generis, and what a relationship looks like from outside may be totally different from what it actually is on the inside. Every real couple have a private side which only they ever get to see. If they don’t, then I don’t believe that they are a real couple so to speak.”

“When we first got married, and working women were not so common, some seemed envious that we had two salaries,” says Victor, “they didn’t realise what considerable sacrifice this entailed of course.”

“No matter how long you’re married for there are always a few things that can be irritating,” says Victor. “In our case it’s Renee’s way of talking – sometimes I get the impression that her vocabulary is limited to just four words: ‘always’, ‘never’, ‘nothing’, and ‘everything’.  She is very literal minded in that sense and does not always appreciate my quirky sense of humour.”

Unlike Renee, Victor considers himself a very private person, “I have my own space,” he says, and “I don’t like it when she is criticized in public especially when it’s unfair and/or personal.  This is one of the reasons why I was never tempted to follow my late father into politics.”