Justin Trudeau's Age Gap With His Ex Wife Sophie Gregoire

Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau tied the knot in 2005, a whole decade before Justin assumed the highest office in the Great White North. In 2023, however, Justin and Sophie announced their separation, effectively marking the end of their marriage after 18 years. However, they also made it clear that they were committed to co-parenting their three kids. Even before the split, though, Justin and Sophie had a rather intriguing relationship timeline. The two actually met as children, as Sophie was a classmate of Michel Trudeau, Justin's late youngest brother. However, after hearing that, you may be wondering if the former Canadian PM and his ex-wife have a significant age gap between them.

Justin was born in December 1971, while Sophie was born in April 1975, meaning there are only about three and a half years between them. This is obviously a pretty normal age difference, all things considered. What's interesting is that, for Justin, this is also an instance of the apple falling very far from the tree. Because while Justin and Sophie are virtually the same age, Justin's parents had an absolutely massive age gap. Of course, Justin's late father was none other than Pierre Trudeau, who himself once served as Canada's prime minister. In fact, Justin's split from Sophie actually ties him to his father in an interesting (if unfortunate) way, as he was the first PM since Pierre to publicly separate from his wife while in office.

Former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was a whopping 29 years older than wife Margaret Trudeau (née Sinclair). Pierre was born in October 1919, while Margaret was born in September 1948. The two wed in 1971. Their eldest son Justin Trudeau, a future prime minister in his own right, arrived later that year, when Pierre was 52 and Margaret was just 23. The pair had two more sons, Alexandre and Michel Trudeau, who were born in 1973 and 1975, respectively. However, Pierre and Margaret separated in 1977, with Margaret filing for divorce in 1983. Their marriage officially ended the following year.

Justin Trudeau actually acknowledged the stark age gap between his parents during an appearance on CPAC's "Beyond Politics" in 2009. "They loved each other incredibly, passionately, completely. But there was 30 years between them and my mom never was an equal partner in what encompassed my father's life, his duty, his country," Justin said (via the Toronto Star), adding, "She was a partner in the child-rearing stuff and the family stuff but not in his full life." That in mind, it's not hard to see why Justin avoided such a large age gap when it came to his own marriage. What's more, he told CPAC at the time that he often made an effort to include now-estranged wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau as much as possible. "I wouldn't be a very good politician if Sophie wasn't in my life," he said.