Mates are key to bliss

FORGET chocolates and the flowers, gentlemen — the key to a happy marriage may be as simple as getting on with your wife’s friends.

A study reveals that husbands who disapprove of their wife’s pals are twice as likely to get divorced. However, women do not have to like their husband’s friends for their marriage to survive.

Researchers believe women are less willing to give up their friends, but men will ditch people if their wives do not like them. The study, at Adelphi University in the US, tracked 400 couples over 16 years.