HARRISBURG — Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and his wife of 40 years, federal appeals court judge Marjorie Rendell, told friends in an e-mail Monday that they are breaking up.

The couple signed the brief message “Ed and Midge.” They did not use the word divorce.

The Rendells have a grown son, Jesse, who graduated from Temple University Law School in 2009 and works for a Philadelphia law firm.

In June, Rendell angrily denied rumors of an extramarital affair after Philadelphia magazine published an article about gossip involving him and Kirstin Snow, a former beauty queen who worked for Rendell as director of Commonwealth Media Services.