Marriage and Children
Late in life (1971), while Prime Minister, he quietly married Margaret Sinclair, a young woman thirty years his junior. They were incompatible, for her image of Trudeau-as-romantic-playboy was based entirely on false media hype; he was actually a workaholic and an intense intellectual with little time for family or fun, and she suffered from bipolar depression. After three children were born they separated in 1977 and were finally divorced in 1980. Their three children are Justin, Alexandre (Sacha), and Michel (1975–1998).
When his divorce was finalized in 1984, Trudeau became the first Canadian Prime Minister to become a single parent as the result of divorce. In 1991, Trudeau became a father again, with Deborah Coyne. This was his first and only daughter, named Sarah.
Read more about this topic: Pierre Trudeau
Famous quotes containing the words marriage and/or children:
“Yes, marriage is hateful, detestable. A kind of ineffable, sickening disgust seizes my mind when I think of this most despotic, most unrequited fetter which prejudice has forged to confine its energies.”
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)
“Indeed, there are no easy correlations between parental ideology, class or race and “successful” child development. Many children the world over have revealed a kind of toughness and plasticity that make the determined efforts of some parents to spare their children the slightest pain seem ironic.”
—Robert Coles (20th century)