What Is Margaret Trudeau's Net Worth?
Margaret Trudeau is a Canadian author, actress, and social advocate who has a net worth of $10 million. Margaret Trudeau is best known for having been the 23-year-old wild-child bride of 52-year-old Prime Minster Pierre Trudeau before becoming a divorcee and international advocate for mental health awareness. Her 2010 book "Changing My Mind," which focused on her struggle with mental illness, became a #1 best-selling biography. She is the mother of Justin Trudeau, who has also served as Prime Minister of Canada.
Early Years
Margaret Joan (Sinclair) Trudeau was born on September 10, 1948, in Vancouver, British Columbia. She is the daughter of James Sinclair and Doris Kathleen Bernard. Her father was a member of the Parliament of Canada and served as the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard. Margaret attended Rockcliffe Park Public School, a public elementary school in Ottawa, Canada, Hamilton Junior Secondary School in North Vancouver, and Delbrook Senior Secondary School, a public high school also in North Vancouver. In 1969, Margaret graduated from Simon Fraser University, a public research university in British Columbia, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology.
Marrying Into Politics
Margaret Sinclair met Pierre Trudeau – a Canadian attorney, politician, and eventual 15th Prime Minister of Canada – while on a Tahitian vacation with her parents in 1966 when she was 18 years old and he was 47. The romance was kept secret, and the public was shocked to learn that Pierre had married her on March 4, 1971, in North Vancouver and honeymooned at Alta Lake in British Columbia. The marriage had necessitated Margaret's conversion to Catholicism.
During the 1974 Canadian Federal Election, Margaret decided to help campaign for her husband. Most wives of politicians didn't take to podiums at that time, and her outspoken support was initially shocking but later regarded as a major asset for political aspirations, as at least half of voters were female.
Later, the marriage began to fall apart when Margaret started feeling as if her position as a politician's wife allowed her no control over her own life. In rebellion, she had affairs with several famous American actors and musicians. She filed for divorce on November 16, 1983, and the decree was finalized on April 2, 1984. Sixteen days later, she married Canadian real estate developer Fried Kemper. She and Kemper divorced in 1999.
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Children
Margaret is the mother of five children. Justin Pierre James Trudeau was born on December 25, 1971. Alexandre Emmanuel Trudeau was born on December 25, 1973. Michel Charles-Emile Trudeau was born on October 2, 1975, and died on November 13, 1998, during an avalanche that occurred while he was skiing in Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park in British Columbia. While married to her second husband, Margaret gave birth to two children during her second marriage: Kyle Kemper, born in 1984, and Alicia Kemper, born in 1988.
Philanthropy
Margaret served as honorary president and ambassador of WaterAid Canada from 2002 to 2017. The non-governmental organization, focused on water and sanitation, helps poor communities build sustainable water supplies.
Mental Health
Margaret announced in 2006 that she suffers from bipolar disorder, a mental disorder characterized by alternating periods of depressed moods and moods that are abnormally elevated. Since that time, she has presented lectures across North America regarding the need to reduce the social stigma of mental illness. Trudeau is an honorary patron of the Canadian Mental Health Association, founded in 1918. In 2010, she wrote "Changing My Mind," a book about her personal experience with bipolar disorder. In 2013, she received an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of Western Ontario in gratitude for her efforts to curb the stigma of mental illness.
Margaret is a community advocate who sits on the Executive Advisory Board of the UBC Mental Health Institute. The Margaret Trudeau Advocacy Award is presented annually to individuals who have dedicated their lives to reducing the stigma of mental illness and improving the dialogue about it with compassion and empathy.
(Photo by Dominik Magdziak/Getty Images)
Books
Trudeau penned her first book, "Beyond Reason," in 1979. It provides a candid and detailed look at her young life as a flower child before becoming the young bride of a wealthy, powerful politician.
Her 1982 book "Consequences" focuses on how she went from being a Prime Minister's childlike marital partner to a grown woman making it on her own.
Margaret's 2010 book "Changing My Mind," which follows her courageous journey through mental illness – from struggle and despair to acceptance and hope, went on to become a #1 best-selling biography.
"The Time of Your Life: Choosing A Vibrant, Joyful Future," published in 2015, is Margaret's reflection on life and aging. It offers women inspirational and practical advice concerning subjects such as pension planning, retirement homes, and sex.
Film
Margaret has appeared in two films produced in Canada. "The Guardian Angel" was a 1978 romantic comedy, and "Kings and Desperate Men" was a 1981 hostage drama.
