Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau are separating after 18 years of marriage. The Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau arrive at the Felipe Angeles international airport in Zumpango, Mexico, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Eduardo Verdugo
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau have announced they are separating.
On Wednesday, Trudeau, 51, and Grégoire Trudeau, 48, posted a joint statement on their Instagram pages that the couple is splitting up after 18 years together.
“Sophie and I would like to share the fact that after many meaningful and difficult conversations, we have made the decision to separate,” the post says.
“As always, we remain a close family with deep love and respect for each other and for everything we have built and will continue to build. For the well-being of our children, we ask that you respect our and their privacy. Thank you,” it continued.
The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement that the couple has signed a separation agreement “to ensure that all legal and ethical steps with regards to their decision to separate have been taken, and will continue to do so moving forward,” according to the Canadian Press.
The statement added that the whole family plans to vacation together next week and that Canadians can expect to still see the family together.
The Liberal Party of Canada said Trudeau will continue to live at Rideau Cottage and the children will primarily live there. However, Grégoire Trudeau has moved to another home in Ottawa but will often spend time at the cottage with her children, the Canadian Press said.
The couple met while growing up in Montreal, where Grégoire Trudeau was a classmate and childhood friend of Trudeau’s brother Michael.
Trudeau and Grégoire Trudeau later reconnected as adults and married in 2005.
They have three children together: Xavier James, 15, Ella-Grace Margaret, 14 and Hadrien Gregoire, 9.
