It’s a grainy image, taken from a distance at night, showing a casually dressed dark- haired man walking hand-in-hand with a blonde in a strapless black dress.
The caption was simple and direct: ‘My husband and his girlfriend holding hands.’ Beside it a heart emoji and a clip of the song Another by The Notorious B.I.G.
That image was posted as an Instagram story – and quickly taken down – late Tuesday by former First Daughter Ashley Biden and speaks volumes about the end of her marriage to plastic surgeon Howard Krein.
The two figures are not immediately identifiable in the photo, but Ashley’s barbed caption was clear as was the Biggie Smalls song about the pain of infidelity.
The post came just hours after it was revealed Ashley, 44, had filed for a divorce from Krein in a Philadelphia court on Monday after 13 years of marriage.
And legal filings obtained by Daily Mail reveal Ashley is now requesting spousal support from her estranged husband.
She is ‘unable to sustain herself’ while their case is pending, the filing reads.
The couple lived together in Philadelphia, where Krein, 58, works as an otolaryngologist and plastic surgeon at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
But Ashley was staying out of sight, believed to be holed up in their $1.3million home on Tuesday afternoon, when Daily Mail spotted take-out food being delivered to the gated three-bedroom house.
The now-deleted Instagram story appeared to show Ashley’s plastic surgeon husband Howard Krein, 59, holding hands with another woman
The couple married in Greenville, Delaware, in 2012, after meeting two years earlier through Ashley’s late brother Beau, who died from cancer in 2015
Her best friend Mechelle Lavelle was seen entering the property wheeling a small suitcase, suggesting Ashley has had emotional support amid her split.
Earlier, Ashley seemed to allude to her divorce in another now-deleted Instagram story that showed her walking through a park as she gave a thumbs up to the tune of the song Freedom by Beyoncé.
She also reposted a quote to Instagram that read: ‘New life, means new boundaries. New ways of being that won’t look or sound like they did before.’ She accompanied the quote with Lauryn Hill’s song Freedom Time.
Divorce documents filed by her attorney Charles Meyer reveal she is requesting a no-fault divorce, stating that the marriage is ‘irretrievably broken’ and that she plans to submit an affidavit consenting to a divorce – and believes Krein may do the same.
She asked that after 90 days, the court issue a decree of divorce if both she and her husband file their affidavits consenting to the formal dissolution of their marriage.
The filings note that she and Krein are living ‘separate and apart’ and that she will file the required affidavit at an ‘appropriate time’.
Ashley also asked the court to order Krein to pay her spousal support while their divorce goes through, as well as keeping her as a beneficiary on his life and health insurance policies.
Ashley, the only biological child of Joe and Jill Biden – who Forbes estimated to be worth around $10million – says she ‘lacks sufficient property to provide for her reasonable needs and is unable to sustain herself through appropriate employment in accordance with the standard of living established during the marriage’.
Ashley is Joe Biden’s youngest daughter and his only biological child with first lady Jill Biden
She also wants her estranged husband to pay her legal bills and expenses.
Ashley has hired attorneys Hofstein Weiner & Meyer P.C, which bills itself on its website as ‘a boutique law firm devoted exclusively to domestic relations, focusing on the negotiation and litigation of complex family law matters’.
In a sign of what her estranged husband could expect in a courtroom showdown, the law firm adds on its website: ‘While the goal always is to negotiate and resolve matters, the firm’s attorneys are prepared to effectively and zealously advocate for their clients and litigate all matters.’
But it seems she is keen to avoid a messy legal battle, adding in her court filing that she is ‘willing to negotiate a fair and reasonable settlement of all matters’ with her soon-to-be ex.
Requesting an equal split of all property acquired during their marriage, she adds in the document: ‘In the event that a written settlement agreement is entered prior to the final disposition of this action, plaintiff desires that such written settlement agreement be approved by the court and incorporated, but not merged, in any divorce decree, which may be entered dissolving the marriage between the parties.’
Ashley married Krein in Greenville, Delaware, in 2012. The ceremony took place at the church where Ashley was baptized, People magazine reported at the time.
The former couple met two years earlier through Biden’s late brother Beau, who died from cancer in 2015.
Ashley and Krein were last seen together publicly in the Oval Office in June 2024, when her father announced he was quitting the presidential race
Ashley has a master’s degree in social work from the University of Pennsylvania and has worked for criminal justice reform in the state.
She spoke about her wedding reception at the Biden family’s lakeside estate in Wilmington when she introduced her father at the Democratic National Convention in 2024.
‘At the time, my dad was vice president, but he was also that dad who literally set up the entire reception,’ she said in her speech.
‘He was riding around in his John Deere four-wheeler, fixing the place settings, arranging the plants, and by the way, he was very emotional.’
Ashley is the only biological child of Jill Biden, who married then-Senator Joe Biden after the tragic death of his first wife Neilia and their toddler daughter Naomi in a 1972 crash.
Their two sons, Beau, then three, and Hunter, two, were injured when a truck plowed into their car.
The last time she Ashley and Krein were publicly seen together was in the Oval Office in June 2024 when Joe spoke to the nation to announce that he was pulling out of the presidential race following a disastrous televised debate against Donald Trump.
While she has mostly stayed out of the spotlight, earlier this year Ashley vocally defended Joe Biden against claims that he had been cognitively unfit during his last months in the White House.
In June, she shared a beach photo of herself with her parents and wrote: ‘I am so grateful. too grateful to be angry about all this bulls**t.’
Neither Ashley Biden nor Howard Krein could be reached for comment.
