At a time when their family has fractured the children of former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver have proved their immeasurable strength. Seventeen-year-old son Patrick wrote on Twitter: "Some days you want to quit and just be normal for a bit, yet I love my family till death do us part."
His older sister Katherine, 21, (pictured with Patrick) also took to the social networking site to say: "This is definitely not easy but I appreciate your love and support as I begin to heal and move forward."
The tweets comes after revelations this week that the Terminator star-turned-politician fathered a child with a household staff member a decade ago. US media has identified the mother as Mildred Patricia Baena, who worked for the family for twenty years but did not live in the family mansion. Her job included cooking, cleaning and laundry. Whilst the couple's children were comforted by supporters on Twitter their mother took solace in good friend Oprah Winfrey, appearing on her show on Tuesday.
The two women have been close friends for 30 years and according to a source Maria was at dinner with Oprah when Arnold called her to tell her he was going to release a statement apologising the next day. The source told Radar online: "Maria had a very animated, very emotional 15 minute phone call." "She was very upset and from what she was saying it was obvious that she was getting some stunning news. She left the dinner right after the call." Respected former journalist Maria - whose mother was the sister of late President J F Kennedy - is said to be discussing appearing on Oprah's final show on May 25 to give a tell-all interview. The Republican politician is said to have only discovered the paternity of the child after he was born. On learning the truth, he began to provided for him financially.
Family friends told the New York Times that the child was an "occasional presence" in their mansion throughout the past decade. However the 63-year-old kept his knowledge of the child a secret from wife Maria for over a decade before revealing it to her when his term as governor ended earlier this year. Fifty-five-year-old Maria left the family home and the couple formally announced their separation on May 9.