"I agree. I have seen "partner" used many times in the British press as a catch all that can mean married or shacked up. Interesting that so many people here jumped to the conclusion that puts the woman in the poorest light."
That's interesting. If the British press is using the word *partner*, even when the person is married, it sounds like they might be playing with people's heads. By doing away with the use of the word marriage, they probably hope the whole concept of marriage will disappear. Sounds far fetched, but I wouldn't put it past them.
"Partner" is the new "Ms"--a word used to not convey the marital status (or the gender/sexuality) of the people designated. It's another step that started with the stripping of people's ethnicities in news reports. We may not like it, but it's the code that news is being written in, and if we are to understand the news we need to learn the code.