‘Team Barbie’: Justin Trudeau breaks cover after split news
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has posted a surprise image just days after announcing his shock separation from his wife.
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has broken cover days after announcing his shock split from his wife as he and his teenage son Xavier went to see the Barbie movie in pink outfits.
In a post on Instagram, Mr Trudeau and his son were seen beaming in front of a Barbie poster at the cinema, with the Canadian PM donning a neon hooded top with the logo “love you more” while Xavier wore a fuchsia t-shirt.
Mr Trudeau, who rarely shares images of his children, captioned the picture “We’re Team Barbie” in an apparent reference to the Barbenheimer phenomenon where fans watch the blockbuster movies Barbie and Oppenheimer in a double bill.
It came just days after Mr Trudeau announced his separation from Xavier’s mother, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau.
The former couple were married for over 18 years and share three kids together — Xavier, 15, as well as Ella-Grace, 14, and Hadrien, nine.
Prominent themes in the Barbie movie include patriarchy and toxic masculinity, issues Ms Gregoire Trudeau has been outspoken about in relation to raising her sons.
MARITAL WOES HINT IN MEGHAN’S PODCAST
Ms Gregoire Trudeau may have given a hint to her own marital strife when she appeared on Meghan Markle’s podcast last year.
Ms Gregoire Trudeau, who was referred to as “Soph” by the Duchess of Sussex, appeared on Meghan’s now defunct podcast titled Good Wife/Bad Wife, Good Mum/Bad Mum in November 2022.
The Canadian First Lady spoke about the want for women to break away from traditional feminine domestic roles and how all women “long to be free in who we are” since they carry “most of the load” in the household and with the children.
Meghan described Ms Gregoire Trudeau as “a dear friend” who is “emblematic of strength that comes from embracing humanity, even in the face of all these family and home and public pressures”.
In her podcast, Meghan said Ms Gregoire Trudeau had a “full plate while being a parent and a spouse in the public eye after being married to Justin for 18 years”.
She said she also knew about the “crushing the guilt of expectations” set upon mothers and women in general, the Duchess of Sussex said in her introduction.
Ms Gregoire Trudeau agreed and said about the guilt of being a woman and having to take on multiple roles: “I think we’ve learned to self-impose it. A little girl is not born feeling guilty for being a girl.
“We learn it. And that’s completely unacceptable. When I started becoming an older girl in an early adult stage, I realised that we often define ‘freedom’ as a way to be free from the world, but it’s really a way to be free in the world.”
Meghan described how she had “gone to Sophie for advice” over the years, after meeting “seven years ago”.
SHOCK SPLIT
In a surprise Instagram post, Mr Trudeau announced last week that he and his wife had split after 18 years of marriage.
“Sophie and I would like to share that, after numerous difficult and reflective conversations, we have made the decision to separate,” Mr Trudeau said in a statement posted to Instagram.
“As always, we remain a close family with profound love for one another and for everything we have built and continue to build.
“For the wellbeing of our children, we ask that you respect our privacy and theirs. Thank you.”
The two have signed a legal separation agreement, according to the PM’s office.
“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,” it said.
“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 family will be together on vacation, beginning next week.”
Mr Trudeau’s children will continue to live with him following the split from his wife, who has already moved out.
Canada’s Globe and Mail reports that the pair will share custody of their three children, the youngest of whom was born one year before Mr Trudeau was elected Canada’s PM for the first time in 2015.
Mr Trudeau will remain at Rideau Cottage with the children, but Ms Gregoire Trudeau has already moved to a different property in Ottawa.
Mr Trudeau and Ms Gregoire Trudeau first met as children in Montreal.
They reconnected as adults in 2003, and were married two years later.
Mr Trudeau is only the second Canadian PM to announce a separation while in office.
His father, Pierre Trudeau, separated from his much-younger wife, Margaret, in 1979, and was formally divorced in 1984.
The elder Trudeau, who died in 2000 at age 80, famously dated Superman actress Margot Kidder for the last months of his tenure. Kidder died in 2018.
News of the couple’s separation will come as a shock to the public, as they frequently presented a united front throughout Mr Trudeau’s sometimes rocky political career. Less than three months ago, they were spotted holding hands at King Charles’ coronation at Westminster Abbey in London.
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