'WE REMAIN A CLOSE FAMILY' - SOPHIE GREGOIRE TRUDEAU

INSIDE HER JOURNEY, PASSIONS AND PLANS FOR THE FUTURE AS SHE AND JUSTIN PART WAYS

- SHINAN GOVANI

She won hearts from the get-go, bringing unassuming glamour and a refreshing warmth to her wedding day 18 years ago. “I’m the luckiest woman in the world,” gushed radiant bride Sophie Grégoire, acknowledging the media and jubilant crowd in front of Montreal’s Sainte-Madeleine d’Outremont before she glided into the church to tie the knot with Justin Trudeau, marrying into one of Canada’s most iconic families.

Since that day in 2005, Sophie has been Justin’s steadfast companion – a graceful and gracious consort – until earlier this month, when, in a shocking twin posting on Instagram (his in English, hers in French), the couple officially confirmed that they were parting ways.

“After many meaningful and difficult conversations, we have made the decision to separate,” they wrote, echoing the words of Justin’s parents, Pierre and Margaret Trudeau, in 1977, when the then-prime minister and his wife revealed that they were splitting after six years of marriage (their divorce was finalized in 1984). Justin becomes just the second Canadian prime minister in history, after his father, to end a marriage while in office.

GLARE OF THE SPOTLIGHT 

As a young TV reporter and, later, Quebec correspondent for eTalk, Sophie wasn’t unfamiliar with the spotlight. In fact, it was former schoolteacher Justin who had been relatively under the radar (as much as the eldest son of Pierre Trudeau could be) when they first got together.