Agatha Christie's first marriage ended in divorce in 1928. She married Archibald Christie, an army officer, on Christmas Eve 1914 while he was home on leave during the First World War. They had one daughter, Rosalind, and initially lived a family life alongside Christie's developing writing career.
The marriage deteriorated after Archibald told Christie in 1926 that he had fallen in love with Nancy Neele. Their separation became part of the difficult period surrounding Christie's famous disappearance in December 1926, when she vanished for eleven days and was eventually found at a hotel in Harrogate.
The legal process took place in 1928. A decree nisi was granted in April, and the divorce became absolute in October. Archibald married Nancy Neele shortly afterward. Christie kept her married surname professionally and later married archaeologist Max Mallowan in September 1930. Her first marriage is therefore distinct from her second, which lasted until her death in 1976.