Children ‘will live with PM’ after Justin and Sophie Trudeau split
Justin Trudeau’s wife has moved out of his official residence amid reports their children will stay with the Canadian prime minister.
Justin Trudeau’s wife has moved out of his official residence after the announcement of their split amid reports their children will stay with the Canadian prime minister.
Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau revealed on Wednesday (Thursday AEST) that they were separating after 18 years of marriage.
In a statement, the prime minister said they had made the decision after “many meaningful and difficult conversations”. His office said the couple had signed a legal separation agreement.
According to Canadian media, Gregoire Trudeau, a former television host, has moved to a home in the capital, Ottawa, while Trudeau will remain at Rideau Cottage, his residence since taking office in 2015.
Their three children – Xavier, 15, Ella-Grace, 14, and Hadrien, 9 – are expected to live most of the time with their father, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
It’s believed the Trudeaus will keep sharing parental responsibilities.
Trudeau is expected to speak publicly about the split this week before leaving for a holiday with his family, including his ex-wife.
The National Post said that while Gregoire Trudeau, 48, would be a regular presence at Rideau Cottage and will have access to domestic staff at the property, she will no longer have support from staff in the prime minister’s office.
It is unclear whether the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which provides security for the prime minister’s family, will continue to protect her.
For years the couple appeared inseparable and their brand was synonymous with glamour in Canadian politics, in 2017 appearing together in the pages of Vogue for their 12th wedding anniversary.
The couple knew each other as children in Montreal and began dating after meeting again at a charity event in 2003. They became engaged a year later and were married in 2005.
Trudeau, 51, started his political career in 2007. Both spouses discussed the difficulties of managing a marriage in the public eye.
Gregoire Trudeau said in 2015 that “no marriage is easy”, adding: “I’m almost kind of proud of the fact that we’ve had hardship, yes, because we want authenticity. We want truth.
“We want to grow closer as individuals through our lifetime and we’re both dreamers and we want to be together for as long as we can.”
In recent years Gregoire Trudeau’s appearances by her husband’s side became more infrequent. The two were last seen together publicly at Canada Day events in Ottawa last month.
Experts believe the political impact of the split on Trudeau’s public persona will depend on if and when details of the separation emerge.
Andrew Enns, executive vice-president at the Canadian pollster Leger, told the National Post: “If it was mutual, if they just grew apart over the stress of the job, then this maybe doesn’t have any negative impact, and [it may even be] a little positive.
“But if there’s more to this story that comes out, that there was maybe some infidelity or something, then this could be a bit of an issue for the Trudeau brand.”
Trudeau is the second Canadian prime minister after his father to announce a separation while in office.
Pierre and Margaret Trudeau separated in 1977 and divorced in 1984 during his final year in office. Margaret Trudeau wrote in her memoir that she had had a romance with the US senator Ted Kennedy.
The prime minister, who was a child when his parents separated, wrote in his 2014 book Common Ground that public life took its toll on their relationship.
He wrote: “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.”
The Times
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