'Separated amicably' - Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton split

Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton had been together for 13 years. Photo / Getty Images

British actress Helena Bonham Carter and Alice in Wonderland director Tim Burton have separated after 13 years together.

Bonham Carter and Burton, who have two children but never married, had "separated amicably", a spokesman for the couple said.

She said: "Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter separated amicably earlier this year and have continued to be friends and co-parent their children. We would ask that you respect their privacy and that of their children during this time."

Bonham Carter, 48, star of The King's Speech and the Harry Potter movies, met Burton, 56, after he cast her on Planet of the Apes in 2001.

Since then, the pair have collaborated on six blockbusters, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Alice in Wonderland and Dark Shadows.

But Bonham Carter said last year that the couple may not work professionally again, as her husband was "getting sick" of her. Although clearly a joke, those light-hearted words were taken by some present as a hint about their personal relationship.

Later that month, a spokesman for Bonham Carter dismissed as "just nonsense" suggestions that Burton had cheated on her, after the director was pictured with a mystery blonde woman at a cinema in Hampstead, north London.

A photo of Burton embracing the woman showed nothing more than "a goodbye peck on the cheek", the spokesman said at the time.

The couple have been guests of Prime Minister David Cameron at his country retreat, Chequers.

They live, or lived, in a series of three conjoined houses, one decorated to each of their tastes and a third home for their children - son, Billy, 11 and a daughter, Nell - and live-in nanny.