Prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, and his wife of 18 years, Sophie, are getting a divorce

Prime minister of Canada. Justin Trudeau, announces he and his wife of 18 years are getting a divorce.

The Trudeaus have three children: Xavier who is 15, Ella-Grace who is 14, and Hadrien who is nine.

In a separate release, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) confirmed that the pair have “signed a legal separation agreement.”

“They have worked 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,” said PMO spokesperson Alison Murphy in the statement.

Trudeau’s office said that the prime minister and Sophie are “focused on raising their kids in a safe, loving and collaborative environment,” and both will be “a constant presence in their children’s lives.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau are separating after 18 years of marriage.

In a brief statement issued by the prime minister on Instagram, he said that after “many meaningful and difficult conversations” the pair have “made the decision to separate.” 

“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,” said Trudeau in his post, which was also shared by Sophie’s account.

For the well-being of their children, the Trudeaus are asking Canadians to respect the family’s privacy at this time. Speaking to Maclean’s magazine in 2005, Trudeau said that he and Grégoire-Trudeau began dating after they co-hosted the Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ball, a fundraiser for a children’s foundation.

“We laughed, we joked and there was a definite chemistry between us,” Trudeau told the magazine.

The two were married in May 2005 at Montreal’s Sainte-Madeleine d’Outremont church, in a ceremony that attracted a lot of buzz for a then pre-politics Trudeau.

Since Trudeau came to power in 2015, Grégoire Trudeau has largely avoided the limelight, though she was routinely a presence on the campaign trails. Speaking to Global News in 2015, Grégoire-Trudeau said that “no marriage is easy,” and that she was “almost kind of proud of the fact that we’ve had hardship.”