Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife announce their separation

 

 
After 18 years of marriage, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, announced their divorce on Wednesday.

In Instagram messages, the two claimed they reached the decision after "many meaningful and difficult conversations." According to a statement from the prime minister's office, they both signed a legal separation agreement.

Trudeau, the 51-year-old scion of one of Canada's most well-known politicians, was sworn in as Prime Minister in 2015. Sophie Trudeau is a former model turned television personality. In 2005, the pair married. They brought celebrity power to the prime minister's office and were featured in Vogue magazine.

They have three children: Xavier, 15, Ella-Grace, 14, and Hadrien, 9 years old.

"As always, we remain a close family with deep love and respect for each other and everything we have built and will continue to build," the couple said on Instagram.

According to a source close to the situation, Trudeau will remain at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, where he has lived since 2015, and the children will mostly dwell there to ensure stability.

According to the source, she has moved to a different Ottawa residence but will visit Rideau Cottage when he is away. Because they were not authorised to comment publicly, the official spoke on the condition of anonymity.


She has become less visible in recent years, seldom accompanying the prime minister on formal travels. Last month, the two were photographed together at Canada Day activities in Ottawa.

"They remain a close family, and Sophie and the prime minister are focused on raising their kids in a safe, loving, and collaborative environment," Trudeau's office said in a statement. "The family will be on vacation starting next week."

His office begged that their privacy be respected.

Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire met as youngsters when she was in the same class as his youngest brother, Michel, and again as adults when they co-hosted a charity banquet in 2003.

Trudeau is the second prime minister to disclose his divorce while still in office.

His father, Pierre Trudeau, and mother, Margaret Trudeau, divorced in 1984, during the older Trudeau's final year as Prime Minister.

Margaret Trudeau revealed in her memoir that she had a romantic relationship with Senator Ted Kennedy. During a trip to Washington, D.C. with Pierre in 1977, she sat in on her husband's address to Congress, "torn between an intense need for him and a longing for Ted Kennedy." Margaret stated that she fell in love with Kennedy after meeting him a few years before. He "had not destroyed my marriage, but I had used him to help me destroy a marriage that was not mine," she told Kennedy.

Margaret, who had untreated mental illness at the time, left her husband to party with the Rolling Stones in Toronto just a few weeks later. Soon later, the marriage terminated.

Justin, who was a toddler when his parents divorced, writes in his 2014 book "Common Ground" that public life had a negative impact on him. "I knew, even back then, that the demands imposed by the life my parents were leading affected them far more than the ordinary stress of parenthood," he wrote.

When Justin Trudeau first took office in 2015, he channelled the star power of his Liberal idol father. After eight years in power, scandals, voter tiredness, and economic inflation have taken their toll on his popularity.

Trudeau recently uploaded a photo of himself holding hands with his wife on their anniversary, writing, "Every mile of this journey together is an adventure." Soph, I adore you. "Congratulations on your anniversary!"

Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, predicted that Trudeau will resign sometime next year or early in 2025.

"An ultimatum from Sophie may have contributed to the separation."

Wiseman suggested that Trudeau not run in the next election. "I now believe he is more likely to stay in politics."