Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his spouse, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, arrive at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Ontario, Sept. 11, 2019. The Canadian prime minister and his spouse introduced Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023, that they’re separating after 18 years of marriage.

Justin Tang/AP

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Justin Tang/AP

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his spouse, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, arrive at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Ontario, Sept. 11, 2019. The Canadian prime minister and his spouse introduced Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023, that they’re separating after 18 years of marriage.

Justin Tang/AP

TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his spouse, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, introduced Wednesday that they’re separating after 18 years of marriage.

The two stated in statements posted on Instagram that they made the choice after “many meaningful and difficult conversations.” A press release from the prime minister’s workplace stated they each have signed a authorized separation settlement.

Trudeau, the 51-year-old scion of one in every of Canada’s most well-known politicians, was sworn into workplace in 2015. Sophie Trudeau is a former mannequin and TV host. The couple have been married in 2005. Together, they introduced star energy to the prime minister’s workplace and appeared within the pages of Vogue journal.

They have three youngsters, 15-year-old Xavier, 14-year-old Ella-Grace and 9-year-old Hadrien.

“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,” the 2 stated on Instagram.

An official acquainted with the matter stated Trudeau will proceed to dwell at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, the place he has lived since 2015, and the kids will primarily dwell there to keep up stability.

The official stated she has moved to a separate Ottawa dwelling, however will spend time at Rideau Cottage at instances together with when he’s travelling. The official spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t licensed to talk publicly.

She has performed a much less seen position in recent times, hardly ever touring with the prime minister on official journeys. The two have been seen collectively publicly at Canada Day occasions in Ottawa final month.

“They remain a close family, and Sophie and the prime minister are focused on raising their kids in a safe, loving and collaborative environment,” the assertion from Trudeau’s workplace stated. “The family will be together on vacation, beginning next week.”

His workplace requested respect for his or her privateness.

Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire met as youngsters when she was a classmate of his youngest brother, Michel, and so they reconnected as adults after they co-hosted a 2003 charity gala.

Trudeau is the second prime minister to announce a separation whereas in workplace.

His father, Pierre Trudeau, and mom, Margaret Trudeau, separated in 1979 and divorced in 1984 in the course of the elder Trudeau’s remaining yr within the prime minister’s workplace.

Margaret Trudeau wrote in her memoir that she had a romance with Senator Ted Kennedy. During a 1977 go to to Washington, D.C. with Pierre, she sat listening to her husband’s speech earlier than Congress whereas feeling “torn between an intense need for him and a longing for Ted Kennedy.” Margaret wrote she turned infatuated with Kennedy after assembly him a couple of years earlier. She informed Kennedy that he “had not destroyed my marriage but that I had used him to help me destroy a marriage that was already over.”

Just weeks later Margaret, who had then-undiagnosed psychological sickness, left her husband to get together with the Rolling Stones in Toronto. The marriage ended quickly after that.

Justin, who was a toddler when his mother and father separated, wrote in his 2014 e book “Common Ground” that public life took its toll. “I knew, even then, that the demands imposed by the life my parents were leading affected them far more than the ordinary stress of parenthood,” he wrote.

Justin Trudeau channeled the star energy of his Liberal icon father when he first gained workplace in 2015. Scandals, voter fatigue and financial inflation have taken a toll on his reputation after eight years in energy.

Just a couple of months in the past Trudeau posted an image of himself holding fingers along with his spouse on their anniversary and wrote, “Every mile of this journey together is an adventure. I love you, Soph. Happy anniversary!”

Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor on the University of Toronto, had thought that Trudeau would critically think about stepping down someday subsequent yr or early in 2025.

“The separation may have been partially driven by an ultimatum from Sophie that Trudeau not contest the next election,” Wiseman stated. “I now think he is more likely to stick in the political arena.”