A Canadian PM named Trudeau dating beautiful celebrities? It’s happened before
Former prime minister Justin Trudeau is making headlines for his liaison with pop singer Katy Perry, following once again in the life of his prime ministerial father Pierre, whose romantic exploits were legendary.
This weekend a British newspaper published a report about the young Trudeau and Perry kissing and cuddling on her yacht off the California coast. And last July, the couple was spotted in Montreal’s Le Violon restaurant. Trudeau and wife Sophie Grégoire split in 2023 after 18 years together.
The romantic life of Trudeau’s father also made frequent headlines. Debonair, wealthy men with the addition of that French-Canadian flair, both encountered a constant public thirst for news about their love lives, including the breakdown of their marriages.
Pierre Trudeau was prime minister from 1968 to 1979 and again from 1980 to 1984. Pierre first became prime minister during the so-called “Swinging ‘60s” and was, himself, described in the Vancouver Sun as a “swinging young bachelor.”
It was a heady time. The country had just celebrated an international exposition, Expo ‘67 in Montreal, even while the Front de Libération du Quebec was blowing up mailboxes in Montreal and undertaking two high-profile kidnappings in the fall of 1970, in the name of separatism.
Pierre Trudeau’s tough response was in full view when a journalist questioned him outside Parliament about the suspension of civil liberties, as well as soldiers and tanks into the streets. How far would he go? “Just watch me,” Trudeau replied.
But on the ‘make love, not war’ side of the equation, Trudeau’s persona was built up in the lead-up to him becoming prime minister. During “Trudeaumania” he drove a Mercedes convertible onto Parliament Hill, and often traded the previous generation’s shirt and tie uniform for turtleneck sweaters. He slid down bannisters and performed somersaults off hotel diving boards, saluted supporters with Buddhist bows and was happy to kiss young women worshippers on the street (on the lips).
Most notably, as justice minister proclaimed that “the state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation.”
His private life became the subject of public fascination in Canada and abroad.
His first steady date in the public eye was Julie Maloney, who was Miss Canada 1969.
Next came his marriage to Margaret Trudeau, from 1971 until their divorce in 1984. She was Justin Trudeau’s mother, as well as his two brothers. (He was 51 when they met, she was 22.)
Although, when the marriage to Margaret was in tatters, he briefly dated high-profile Canadian actress Kim Cattrall (later known for her role in the “Sex in the City” television series) in 1981. Years later, in 2016, CBS show “60 Minutes,” mistakenly aired a photo of Cattrall implying she was Justin’s mother. Cattrall cheerfully accepted the error, saying she couldn’t be more proud.
Then came another Canadian actress, Margot Kidder , who played Lois Lane in the early “Superman” movies. That was in the early 1980s.
One of his longest known relationships was with world-renown Canadian classical guitarist, Liona Boyd . She revealed an eight-year relationship with Trudeau in her memoir.
Meanwhile, it was persistently rumoured that he had a relationship with Bianca Jagger (Mick Jagger’s ex), though that gossip was never firmly documented. (Rumours also swirled around Margaret and Mick.)
Perhaps his final relationship was in the 1990s with Deborah Coyne . Now 70, she is a Canadian constitutional lawyer, professor and author. At one point she worked in the Prime Minister’s Office when John Turner was prime minister. The two had a child together, Sarah, who was Trudeau’s only known daughter.
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