Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and wife Sophie Gregoire announce separation

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Gregoire, are separating after 18 years of marriage, nearly half of them spent with him in the country’s top office.

“Hi everyone, Sophie and I would like to share the fact that after many meaningful and difficult conversations, we have made the decision to separate,” Trudeau, 51, said in an Instagram post Wednesday. “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 couple, in identical statements, concluded with a request for privacy for the family, especially their three children — sons Xavier, 15, and Hadrien, 9, and daughter Ella-Grace, 14.

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

Trudeau and Gregoire first met as children growing up in Montreal. They reconnected as adults in 2003, after Gregoire had become a Quebec television presenter. The couple got engaged in October 2004 and married the following May.

Ten years later, Trudeau ascended to the nation’s top office as leader of the Liberal Party at age 43, becoming the second-youngest prime minister the country had seen. The son of the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau ousted Conservative Stephen Harper, who had helmed the nation for nearly a decade. He has since been reelected twice and is gearing up for another federal election.

Gregoire, 48, has prominently stood by her husband’s side throughout his political career, as CBC News noted, and he has credited her with keeping him grounded. She also became known for her advocacy for charitable and social causes, focusing on mental health and gender equality.

In his split from Gregoire, Trudeau has also followed in his father’s footsteps as the second prime minister to separate while in office. Pierre Trudeau and wife Margaret separated in 1977 and divorced in 1984.

Trudeau and Gregoire have “signed a legal separation agreement,” the prime minister’s office said. “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.”

With News Wire Services