Robert De Niro and Grace Hightower are reportedly splitting up after two decades of marriage.

Robert De Niro and Grace Hightower

Robert De Niro and Grace Hightower

The 'Goodfellas' star is said to have split from his spouse and are expected to make a formal announcement in the coming weeks.

A source told the New York Post's Page Six column: "They are not living together at this time."

Whilst an insider added to People magazine: "Sometimes things don't work out the way you hope or want them to."

Robert and Grace tied the knot in 1997 after 10 years of dating. However, the couple went through a bit of a rocky patch two years into their marriage, which saw Robert file for divorce, but he later pulled the papers. The couple also renewed their wedding vows 14 years ago, joined by their good friends including Meryl Streep, Ben Stiller and Martin Scorsese.

Robert is notoriously private about his relationship with Grace but the pair are outspoken about their belief that their son's autism is linked to vaccinations.

Explaining how Grace believes the teenager "changed overnight" after being vaccinated as a child, Robert said: "The vaccines are dangerous to certain people who are more susceptible. Nobody seems to want to address that, or they say they've addressed it and it's a closed issue but it doesn't seem to be. There are many people who will come out and say I saw my kid change overnight. I saw what happened, I should have done something and I didn't. There's more to this than meets the eye, believe me."