Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, are parting ways after 18 years of marriage.
The Ottawa-born politician announced the pair’s decision in an English-language social media statement on Wednesday. Grégoire Trudeau, a native of Montreal, posted the same announcement in French to her own accounts.
“Sophie and I would like to share the fact that after many meaningful and difficult conversations, we have made the decision to separate,” wrote Trudeau, who has three children with the former TV host. “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.”
Trudeau, who has been Canada’s PM since 2015, asked the public to give his family space during their transition.
“For the well-being of our children, we ask that you respect our and their privacy,” he wrote. “Thank you.”
Representatives for the politician offered further comment in a statement to Canada’s CTV News, writing: “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.”
Trudeau’s office said the exes are “focused on raising their kids in a safe, loving and collaborative environment”, and that both will be be “a constant presence in their children’s lives.”
Trudeau and Grégoire Trudeau first met as children growing up in Montreal, but it wasn’t until 2003 that they reconnected and began dating.
The politician and the TV presenter got engaged in 2004, and wedded in an elegant ceremony in Montreal the following May.
Trudeau and Grégoire Trudeau welcomed a son, Xavier, in 2007. A daughter, Ella-Grace, arrived in 2009, and their youngest son, Hadrien, was born in 2014.
The couple were last photographed together during a March visit with US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden at the White House in Washington, DC.