Luxe but lonely life of Matt's jilted wife

NO one could understand why the blushing bride had her dashing husband on such a tight leash. Five weeks after their chic Hamptons wedding in 1998, former model Annette Roque kicked up such a fuss on hearing that Matt Lauer was heading to Florida to cover a space-shuttle launch for the “Today” show that NBC staffers had to scramble to get her a set of last-minute press credentials so her husband would never be out of her sight.

“Friends of Lauer’s are stunned that the down-to-earth newsman is suddenly catering to such indulgent whims,” Page Six reported at the time. “Offers one insider: ‘He’s whipped.’ ”

But in hindsight, Roque, 51, may have been trying to rein in her new husband’s wandering eye — a problem that, two decades later, would cost him his job.

Roque, perhaps the most overlooked victim in the sordid Matt Lauer scandal, is reportedly hiding from the press in the Hamptons, as many wonder if she’ll free herself from a disastrous marriage that had been an open secret in media circles for years.

Lauer, 59, was fired as a host of “Today” on Tuesday night, less than 24 hours after an NBC employee brought accusations of sexual harassment to company officials. As many as seven other women have since come forward with similar accusations. A Variety story claimed the TV anchor “had a button under his desk that allowed him to lock his door from the inside without getting up,” so he could “initiate inappropriate contact” without fearing that someone might walk in.

Meanwhile, Lauer’s reclusive wife has kept quiet. For the last decade, the waifish mother of three and her husband have led separate lives, with Roque sticking to the couple’s properties in ritzy Sag Harbor, LI, while Lauer remains in their Park Avenue apartment during the week, insiders said.

“If she goes out to dinner, it’s always with Matt and one other couple,” a source in the restaurant world told The Post. “I’ve seen her in Manhattan only once or twice, and she’s painfully frail.”

FOR years, while Lauer spent his days hosting one of America’s most popular TV morning shows, Roque has honed her equestrian skills at the boutique 40-acre horse farm that the couple constructed near their home.

“When I see her, she’s always in