Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Wednesday that he and his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau are separating.
“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 wrote on Instagram. “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.”
“For the well-being of our children, we ask that you respect our and their privacy,” he added. “Thank you.”
The two met when they were children and reconnected when they ran into each other at a charity drive 20 years ago, NBC News reported. They married two years later in 2005 and had three children together.
Justin Trudeau, 51, is three years older than the 48-year-old Sophie Grégoire.
The New York Times noted that the announcement comes just after Trudeau “overhauled his cabinet last week, shuffling Liberal Party ministers in key portfolios to inject what he called ‘fresh energy’ into the team.”
The change in his cabinet was reportedly sparked by polls showing that the Liberal Party was losing to the Conservative Party ahead of the country’s next elections in 2025.