OTTAWA, Ont. — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, have announced that they are separating after 18 years of marriage.

An Instagram post published on both Trudeau’s and Grégoire Trudeau’s accounts — in English and French, respectively — appeared shortly after noon.

The post said they “would like to share the fact that after many meaningful and difficult conversations, we have made the decision to separate.”

“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,” they said. “For the well-being of our children, we ask that you respect our and their privacy.”

They have three children: Xavier, 15, Ella-Grace, 14, and Hadrien, 9.

Gossip about the Trudeau marriage had circulated in Ottawa for several years, but the discord in their personal relationship never made headlines.

Wednesday’s announcement will distract Canada’s political class and comes just a week after Trudeau unveiled an overhaul of his Cabinet team in an attempt to reset his government’s economic agenda.

Grégoire Trudeau had been notably absent from major public events in July, including the major Cabinet shuffle at Rideau Hall and a social dinner for NATO leaders and their spouses at the military alliance’s summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.