Annette Roque: Matt Lauer’s Ex-Wife and Life Beyond the Headlines
Annette Roque spent more than twenty years married to one of the most recognisable faces on American morning television, yet she has always kept her own story quiet. To most people she is known simply as Matt Lauer’s ex-wife, the Dutch-born former model who stood beside the Today show anchor through fame, scandal and a very public divorce. But that label only covers part of who she is. Long before she met Lauer, Annette Roque had built a modelling career in Paris and New York, and long after the marriage ended she built a second life around horses, family and privacy in the Hamptons. Among the many celebrity stories that begin with a famous husband, hers is different, because the most interesting chapters are the ones she wrote for herself.
This article looks at what is actually known about Annette Roque, from her childhood in the Netherlands to her modelling years, her marriage, the divorce that made headlines around the world, and the quiet life she leads now. Where sources disagree, the disagreement is noted, because a careful account should say so rather than pick a side without proof.
Annette Roque Quick Facts
- Full name: Annette Roque
- Born: December 1966, the Netherlands
- Known for: Former model and equestrian; ex-wife of television presenter Matt Lauer
- Modelling name: Jade
- Married: Matt Lauer on 3 October 1998
- Divorced: September 2019, after more than 20 years of marriage
- Children: Three — Jack, Romy and Thijs
- Business: Bright Side Farm, an equestrian facility in Water Mill, New York
- Home: The Hamptons, New York
- Public profile: Very private; no confirmed interviews, memoir or public social media
Who Is Annette Roque?
Annette Roque is a Dutch-born former model and equestrian who became widely known through her marriage to Matt Lauer, the American television presenter who hosted NBC’s Today show for more than two decades. The two met on a blind date in the summer of 1997, married the following year, and stayed together for over twenty years before their divorce was finalised in September 2019.
That short summary hides a much fuller life. Before she ever met Lauer, Annette Roque had already made her own way in the world. She left the Netherlands as a young woman, built a modelling career in Paris under the name Jade, and later worked in New York for brands that included J. Crew and Victoria’s Secret. After the marriage ended, she did not chase the spotlight. Instead she turned to the world she had loved since childhood: horses.
People keep searching for Annette Roque for a simple reason. Her story sits at the crossing of two worlds people find hard to look away from: the glamour of high fashion and television, and the collapse of a very public marriage. Yet she herself has said almost nothing in public about any of it. She has given no tell-all interview, written no memoir, and made no attempt to trade on the Lauer name. That silence is exactly why the facts matter, and why this article sticks to what can be supported and says so plainly when it cannot.
Early Life in the Netherlands
Annette Roque was born in December 1966 in the Netherlands, to a Dutch mother and an Indonesian father. Her mixed heritage, which some accounts say also includes Chinese and French ancestry, gave her the striking looks that would later catch a modelling agent’s eye. Beyond that, the details of her earliest years are not fully settled. Some sources give her birthplace as Amsterdam, others name Leeuwarden, and another account says she grew up in Alphen aan den Rijn, a town near Amsterdam. No official record has been published that settles the question, so the safest thing to say is that she was born in the Netherlands in December 1966 and grew up there.
What is better supported is the picture of a young woman who knew early on what she wanted. She grew up around horses and developed a love of riding that would stay with her for the rest of her life. In her early twenties she decided to pursue modelling, a choice that meant leaving home and starting again in a foreign city where she knew almost nobody.
A Modelling Career in Paris and New York
Annette Roque moved to Paris in 1988, when she was 22, after being spotted by modelling agent Patrick Lemire. She worked under the stage name Jade and quickly found work in European cosmetics advertising, becoming the face of several brands. Her look, shaped by her Dutch and Indonesian heritage, stood out in a crowded field, and within a short time she was a working model in one of the hardest markets in the world.
From Paris she moved on to New York, where her career continued to grow. She modelled for J. Crew and appeared in Victoria’s Secret catalogues, and she also worked with Revlon. These were the kind of steady, well-paid jobs that mark a successful working model rather than a supermodel, and they gave her a comfortable life in New York and a place in the city’s fashion world.
It was that world, in the end, that brought her together with Matt Lauer. By the summer of 1997 she was an established model living in New York, and he was a rising anchor on the Today show. Neither of them was looking for a whirlwind romance. They got one anyway.
The Blind Date That Changed Everything
Matt Lauer and Annette Roque met in July 1997 on a blind date arranged by the stylist Maria Santoro. Lauer had only recently become single, and the date was meant to be a casual introduction. Instead the two hit it off straight away, and the relationship moved fast. Within five months they were engaged, and on 3 October 1998 they married in a private ceremony at the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church in the Hamptons.
The wedding was a small, happy occasion. Lauer’s Today show co-host Al Roker was there, and by all accounts the mood was warm and hopeful. The couple settled into life together in New York and the Hamptons, and over the next few years they built a family. Their first child, son Jack, was born in June 2001. Their daughter Romy followed in October 2003, and their youngest son Thijs was born in November 2006.
For the outside world, the marriage looked like a success story. Lauer was one of the best-paid and best-known presenters in American television, and Annette Roque, by then largely retired from modelling, was raising their children and building a life around the family’s homes in the Hamptons. Behind the scenes, though, the marriage was already under strain, and the first public sign of trouble came sooner than most people realised.
Marriage and Family Life
Life for the Lauer family centred on the Hamptons, where they owned property including Strongheart Manor, a large estate in North Haven that they bought from the actor Richard Gere for a reported $36.5 million in June 2016. The house, said to cover around 14,000 square feet, became the family’s main home, and it was there that the children grew up, largely shielded from the press.
Annette Roque’s love of horses shaped the family’s life in the Hamptons too. She founded Bright Side Farm, an equestrian facility in Water Mill, which grew into a serious operation with 36 stalls and training facilities for horses. She passed her love of riding on to her children, and the farm became a central part of the family’s daily life. For a woman who had spent her twenties in front of cameras, the farm was a different kind of work: practical, physical and mostly out of public view.
The children were kept out of the spotlight as much as possible. Jack, Romy and Thijs grew up in the Hamptons, went to school there, and were rarely photographed or written about except in connection with their parents.
The 2006 Divorce Filing
In September 2006, while pregnant with her third child, Annette Roque filed for divorce. The filing, made in Suffolk County, New York, accused Lauer of cruel and inhumane treatment and spoke of mental abuse, extreme mental and emotional distress, humiliation and torment. It was a shock at the time, because the couple had given no public sign that the marriage was in trouble.
About three weeks later, she withdrew the filing. The couple reconciled, and Thijs was born in November 2006. For the next decade they stayed together, and the 2006 filing faded into the background. But it never quite disappeared from the story. When the marriage finally ended years later, many people looked back at that first filing and saw it as an early warning of what was to come.
Whether it was or not, the years after 2006 were outwardly calm. The family continued to live in the Hamptons, the children grew up, and Lauer remained at the top of morning television. Then, in November 2017, everything changed in a matter of days.
The End of the Marriage
In November 2017, Matt Lauer was fired from NBC after allegations of sexual misconduct. The news broke suddenly and dominated headlines for weeks. More details followed, including the account of former NBC employee Brooke Nevils, which was later published in Ronan Farrow’s 2019 book Catch and Kill. Lauer has denied some of the claims made against him, while others have never been fully resolved in public.
For Annette Roque, the scandal ended the marriage. She filed for divorce in July 2019, and the divorce was finalised in September 2019, after more than twenty years together. The settlement was widely reported to be worth around $20 million, and she was also reported to have received the family’s horse farm in Water Mill. Those figures come from press reports, not from court records made public, so they should be treated as reported rather than confirmed. What is certain is that the marriage was over, and that the split was final.
Since the divorce, the two have been reported to maintain a civil co-parenting relationship, focused on their three children. They have been seen at their children’s equestrian events and graduations, and reports describe the arrangement as businesslike and centred on the children. Neither has spoken publicly in detail about the other since the split.
Bright Side Farm and Life in the Hamptons
If there is one thing that defines Annette Roque’s life after the divorce, it is Bright Side Farm. The equestrian facility in Water Mill, described in reports as a 40-acre property, is where she spends her working days. She manages the daily running of the farm, which serves as a training ground for horses, and she has built it into a respected part of the Hamptons equestrian world.
The farm suits her. It is the world she grew up loving, and it is a world that asks for hard work rather than public attention. She has stayed away from the Manhattan social scene that once defined her life with Lauer, and she has not remarried, as far as any public report shows. She has given no interviews about the divorce, written no book, and made no attempt to build a public profile of her own. For a woman who spent two decades married to one of the most famous men in American television, that quietness is a choice, and it is one she has stuck to.
Her children are now adults. Jack, born in 2001, Romy, born in 2003, and Thijs, born in 2006, have grown up largely out of the public eye, and there is little reliable public information about their adult lives.
Common Confusions About Annette Roque
Because so much of what is written about Annette Roque comes from second-hand sources, several errors and mix-ups keep appearing online. The most common ones are worth clearing up.
Where was she born? Sources disagree. Some give Amsterdam, some name Leeuwarden, and another says she grew up in Alphen aan den Rijn, near Amsterdam. Her birth month and year, December 1966, are widely agreed, but one source’s exact date of 6 December has not been confirmed by an official record. Until better evidence appears, the birthplace and exact birthday should be treated as unconfirmed.
When was Romy born? Most sources give October 2003, but at least one gives 2004. The 2003 date appears in the more detailed accounts, so this article uses October 2003 while noting the disagreement.
How much was the divorce settlement? The figure most often quoted is around $20 million, sometimes described as including the horse farm and other property. That number comes from press reports, and the details of the settlement were never made public. It should be treated as reported, not as a confirmed fact, and any net worth figure built on it is a guess, not a fact. No reliable public source gives a confirmed net worth for Annette Roque, so this article gives none.
Did she remarry? There are no public reports of Annette Roque remarrying since her divorce in 2019. That is the honest position: no evidence of a remarriage, not proof that one never happened.
Was she a supermodel? No. Annette Roque was a successful working model in Paris and New York, known for cosmetics advertising and catalogues, but she was not one of the era’s household-name supermodels. Her career was solid and well paid, and it is best described on its own terms.
Frequently Asked Questions About Annette Roque
Who is Annette Roque?
Annette Roque is a Dutch-born former model and equestrian, best known as the ex-wife of television presenter Matt Lauer. They were married for more than twenty years, from 1998 to 2019, and have three children together. She now runs Bright Side Farm, an equestrian facility in the Hamptons.
How old is Annette Roque?
She was born in December 1966, which makes her 59 years old in 2026. Her exact date of birth has not been confirmed by an official record, so the widely reported day of 6 December should be treated as unconfirmed.
How did Annette Roque meet Matt Lauer?
They met on a blind date in July 1997, arranged by the stylist Maria Santoro. They became engaged within five months and married on 3 October 1998 in the Hamptons.
How many children do Annette Roque and Matt Lauer have?
They have three children: son Jack, born in June 2001, daughter Romy, born in October 2003, and son Thijs, born in November 2006.
When did Annette Roque and Matt Lauer divorce?
Annette Roque filed for divorce in July 2019, and the divorce was finalised in September 2019. The settlement was reported to be worth around $20 million, including the family’s horse farm, though the details were never made public.
What does Annette Roque do now?
She runs Bright Side Farm, an equestrian facility in Water Mill in the Hamptons, and lives a private life there with her family. She has not remarried, as far as any public report shows, and she has given no interviews about her former marriage.
Where does Annette Roque live now?
She lives in the Hamptons in New York, where she runs her horse farm. She has stayed out of the Manhattan social scene since her divorce.
Conclusion
Annette Roque’s story is easy to tell badly. It is tempting to reduce her to a single role, the wronged wife of a fallen television star, and leave it at that. But that version misses most of who she is. She was a young Dutch woman who left home at 22, built a modelling career in Paris and New York under her own name, married a famous man, raised three children, survived a marriage that broke down in public, and then went back to the thing she had loved since childhood: horses, a farm, and a quiet life in the Hamptons.
She has never told her own version of events in public, and that silence has left room for rumour and guesswork. The facts that can be checked tell a plainer story, and a more interesting one: a woman who made her own way before fame, and made her own way after it. For readers who want to check the basic facts about her life and career, a general reference is a good place to start.
