Angelina Jolie felt 'alone and vulnerable' without Brad Pitt on first international trip with children

Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt in September 2016.

Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt
Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt in September 2016 after two years of marriage, ending a relationship that began in 2005 REUTERS/Andreas Rentz/Pool

Angelina Jolie is reportedly missing estranged husband Brad Pitt after she and the couple's children went on their first international trip to London, without him. The actress visited the country for the fifth anniversary of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) that she helped to set up in 2012.

A source told Hollywood Life: "Angelina Jolie returned from one of her first international trips with her kids since splitting with Brad [Pitt] and it was the most difficult of her life. She is struggling with overwhelming sadness without having Brad's warmth, protection and his help with the children while traveling."

"Planning this trip made Angelina realize she really feels alone and vulnerable. To help alleviate her nerves, and in an attempt to fill Brad's big void, Angelina increased her huge entourage and traveled with a half-dozen bodyguards and even more nannies to help deal with her sense of loneliness," the insider added.

Meanwhile, Jolie had recently talked about the "difficult time" she and her family has been going through, in an interview with BBC World News. She said: "I don't want to say very much about that, except to say it was a very difficult time. We are a family and we will always be a family, and we will get through this time and hopefully be a stronger family for it."

"Many, many people find themselves in this situation," she said. "My whole, my family...we've all being through a difficult time. My focus is my children, our children...and my focus is finding this way through. We are and forever will be a family. I am coping with finding a way through to make sure that this somehow makes us stronger and closer."