Toronto, Ontario Following 18 years of marriage, Justin and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, Canada's most well-known political power couple, have announced their separation.
The sudden statement Wednesday marks the end of what was sometimes referred to as a "storybook marriage" between two rising Canadian celebrities: the politically aspirant son of a well-known former prime minister and a gorgeous Quebec television anchor.
Soon after 12 p.m., an Instagram post appeared on both Trudeau and Grégoire Trudeau's accounts, in English and French, respectively.
We have decided to separate after having numerous deep and challenging chats, they claimed.
Their three children are Xavier, 15, Ella-Grace, 14, and Hadrien, 9, and they were married in 2005.
"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," they declared. "We ask that you respect our and our children's privacy for the sake of their safety."
According to a separate statement released by the prime minister's office, the family will be vacationing together starting next week.
It stated that a separation agreement was legally signed by the two.
"They remain a close-knit family, and Sophie and the prime minister are committed to providing a secure, caring, and cooperative environment for their children. Canadians can anticipate frequently seeing the family together and the involvement of both parents in their children's life.
On the grounds of Rideau Hall in Ottawa, the Trudeau kids will continue to reside at Rideau Cottage. Sophie will relocate to a different home in the city, but she will continue to frequent Rideau Cottage.
Gossip about the Trudeau marriage had circulated in Ottawa for several years, but the discord in their personal relationship never made headlines.
The news on Wednesday, which comes a week after Trudeau disclosed a reorganization of his Cabinet team in a move hailed as a reset of his government's economic plan, will confuse Canada's political establishment.
The important Cabinet reshuffle at Rideau Hall in the nation's capital and the social meal for NATO leaders and their spouses at the military alliance's summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, were two significant public events that Grégoire Trudeau had noticeably missed in July.
The closest instance of tension throughout the years may have been during Grégoire-Trudeau's confrontation with journalist Laura Stone in 2015 about something her husband said during an interview with Canada's national public broadcaster about his memoir.
When questioned about extramarital affairs, Trudeau said he had none.
The prospect of their intimate lives being publicized and exposed made Grégoire Trudeau giggle.
She said, "I can tell you right away that no marriage is simple. We want sincerity, therefore I'm almost happy that we've had difficulty, she said, adding that "we're both dreamers and we want to be together for as long as we can."
Every advancement in romance was closely watched in Canada. On October 18, 2004, the day before his father would have turned 85, Trudeau popped the question.
He explained to a reporter, "There was champagne and oysters, and I got down on one knee.
In Canada, the engagement made the first page.
In May 2005, they got married in what Chatelaine magazine called "a sweet and appropriately understated fairy-tale wedding."
Trudeau only hinted at a potential political career at the time. At the moment, he stated, "It's definitely a long way off." Grégoire Trudeau said that she believed she would adjust when asked for her opinion.
Vogue highlighted Canada's next prime minister shortly after the Liberals won the election in October 2015. Few people recall the article, but everyone spoke about the stunning picture of the two in love that was published alongside it.
"Trudeau's wife, Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau (in an Oscar de la Renta dress), says of their first date: At the end of dinner he said, "I'm 31 years old, and I've been waiting for you for 31 years," according to the caption that accompanied a portrait by Norman Jean Roy."
Insiders in the party predict that vote won't take place until 2025, the year of the next federal election, when a governing agreement with the left-wing New Democratic Party expires, despite Trudeau's insistence that he intends to lead his party into a fourth campaign.
However, the prime minister ultimately decides when to hold the next election and is free to call for voting whenever he pleases.
It is not immediately evident how such a profoundly emotional and life-altering incident will affect the prime minister's ambition or willingness to lead.
The separation of Pierre and Margaret Trudeau, the elder Trudeau's parents, took place in the final months of the elder Trudeau's term as prime minister in 1984. After three elections and roughly nine years into Pierre's political career, they split up in 1977.
With three electoral victories under his belt, Justin Trudeau has been in office for almost eight years.
Margaret Trudeau wrote a dramatic account of her marriage to a prime minister in her 1979 autobiography, "Beyond Reason." "A glass panel was gently lowered into place around me," she said, "like a patient in a mental hospital who is no longer considered to be able to make decisions and who cannot be exposed to a harsh light."
A book written by Grégoire Trudeau is currently being written. According to its promotional material, "Closer Together" is "a deeply personal journey toward self-knowledge, acceptance, and empowerment."
The memoir, which includes journaling prompts and conversations with wellness professionals, is slated for publication by Penguin Random House Canada in April.
Advanced material about the book promises that Grégoire Trudeau will explore questions that matter most for growth. “What do we need from our relationships, and what can we contribute to them?” for example.
And another: “How can we let go of what doesn’t serve us and nurture what does?”
