Crucially, it’s not just onlookers who have been disturbed by Owens’ story. Resolution, an organisation representing lawyers working in family law, said the judgement confirmed there is a “divorce crisis” in England and Wales. Others have called for the introduction of a “no-fault” divorce law, which would not require either party to prove wrongdoing by the other.

Even the judges who ruled against Owens seem to have been unsettled by their verdict, with Supreme Court president Lady Hale saying she found it “a very troubling case”. But, Lady Hale added, it is up to parliament to change the law.

And they should. They really, really should. Because what does it say about us as a country, that we force people to stay in marriages that make them desperately sad? Divorce is a part of the world in which we live, and while it’s almost always sad, it’s no longer widely seen as shameful. (In 2016, there were almost 107,000 divorces in England and Wales.) Female divorcees are, blessedly, no longer shunned and slandered as a matter of course, and our cultural approach to marriage has generally evolved from “til death do us part” to “for as long as we make each other happy”.

And so if Owens wants to end her marriage, she should be able to, no matter what her spouse or a court thinks or says. Because if being miserable isn’t grounds for divorce, why would anyone get married in the first place?

Images: PA Images / Getty Images / Unsplash

“Tini Owen’s divorce battle shows just how archaic our marriage laws are”