Now one of the news stories discussed about divorce in the world is the end of 18 years of married life of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (51). Trudeau and Sophie have already signed divorce papers. Not only Trudeau, but many world leaders have also gone through such experiences while in power. Some married life may have broken down officially, some—or secretly. Others may be looking for new relationships in power. Here are some leaders who were separated from their partners while in power.
Boris Johnson
Former London Mayor and former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson married Allegra Mostyn-Wayne in 1983. After 10 years in 1993, they got divorced. Just 12 days later, Johnnson married Marina Wheeler. And after five days of marriage, the child comes to light in the house of this newly married couple.
Johnson had an affair with columnist Petronella Watt while editor of The Spectator. Johnson and art consultant Helen Macintyre had another child in 2009 while he was mayor of London.
In 2018, when Johnson was a cabinet minister, he and Marina Hoeller said in a statement that they had separated “a few months ago”. Their separation was finalized in 2020. At that time, the leader of the Conservative Party was the Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, Boris started living with his girlfriend Carrie Simmonds. While Carey is the mother of her first child due in April 2020, Johnson is the father of her third child. They got married in 2021. This is the first time a UK Prime Minister has married while in office since Lord Liverpool’s marriage in 1822 when he was Prime Minister.
Nicolas Sarkozy
Former French President Sarkozy tied the knot for the second time shortly after his divorce from his first wife, Marie-Dominique Couliol, was finalized. In 1996, he married Cecelia Siganer-Albeniz. Then, in 2005, Ciganar-Albeniz reportedly left Sarkozy for someone else. There were also rumors that Sarkozy had an affair with a journalist named Annie Fulda.
Ciganar-Albeniz and Sarkozy split in 2007. This incident happened in Sarkozy’s life only five months after he took office as president. Four months after the breakup, Sarkozy married singer Carla Bruni.
Francois Hollande
Another former French president, François Hollande (2012–2017), was celibate for 29 years with socialist politician Ségolène Royal. They also have four children at home. Before that, Royal lost to Sarkozy in the 2007 presidential election. At that time they announnced that they were separating.
Holland then began a relationship with a journalist named Valerie Trierweiler. He stopped reporting on politics after their affair came to light in the media. In 2014, President Hollande announced that his relationship with Trierweiler had broken. He made the announcement after a tabloid magazine published the news of his relationship with actress Julie Gayet. He married Gayet last year.
Vladimir Putin
Former KGB operative and current President of Russia Vladimir Putin has been married only once. His married life with linguist Lyudmila lasted 32 years from 1983. In 2008, a journalist from the Moskovsky Correspondent newspaper wrote that Putin was going to file for divorce soon and marry his girlfriend Elina Kabaeva. Putin was 56 years old. And retired Olympic gold medalist Elina was 25 years old. Putin dismissed it as rumors. Agents of the Federal Security Service then raided the newspaper office and the establishment was subsequently closed.
Although this marriage is said to be in name only, Lyudmila carried the title of First Lady with President Putin until 2013. They separated the following year.
Since then, the speculation and hints have only increased. In early 2013, Newsweek referred to Elina as the ‘next Mrs Putin’ in a report. Rumor has it, Elina and Putin have two sons. They were born in Switzerland.
Sana Marin
Sana Marin is the 46th Prime Minister of Finland. He served as Prime Minister from December 2019 to June 2023. Less than two years before assuming office, she gave birth to a daughter. But he is still single. The child’s father, Marcus Raikkonen, was her long-time friend. They got married in 2020 at the Prime Minister’s official residence.
Marin lost the election last April. The following month he announced the end of his married life. He even announced that he would step down as leader of the Social Democratic Party at the party congress this fall.
Silvio Berlusconi
Italian billionaire businessman, media mogul former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi served three terms as Prime Minister. During this long period, he had four declared girlfriends. He first married Carla Dal Oglio. However, this relationship ended before Berlusconi’s political career began in 1994.
In 1990, Berlusconi married actress Veronica Lario. They maintained this relationship during two terms (May 1994 to January 1995 and 2001 to 2006) as Prime Minister.
Berlusconi’s third term began in 2008. At the time, Lario wrote an open letter criticizing Berlusconi, according to the New York Times. She filed for divorce in 20009.
Berlusconi spent most of the next 10 years with a young, beautiful girlfriend, Francesca Pascale. The two became friends the year Berlusconi was indicted for tax evasion. However, their relationship broke up in 2020. Berlusconi later became close to center-right politician Marta Fasina. Berlusconi remained with Fascina until his death last June.