British PM Johnson marries fiancée in secret ceremony
UK leader ties knot with Carrie Symonds in front of close friends and family; Downing Street aides not informed of ‘cloak and dagger operation’
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his fiancée Carrie Symonds married Saturday in a small private ceremony in London, his Downing Street office said Sunday.
Johnson’s office confirmed reports in the Mail on Sunday and the Sun that the couple wed at the Roman Catholic Westminster Cathedral in front of a small group of friends and family.
The Sun said senior staff in Johnson’s 10 Downing St. office were unaware of the wedding plans.
Under current coronavirus restrictions in England, no more than 30 people can attend a wedding.
First pics of the happy couple after the wedding in Downing St garden yesterday.
Rebecca Fulton/Downing Street/PA Wire pic.twitter.com/WX7EKGiMWN
— Natasha Clark (@NatashaC) May 30, 2021
Johnson, 56, and 33-year-old Symonds, an environmental advocate, announced their engagement in February 2020 and have a son together, 1-year-old Wilfred.
The marriage is Symonds’ first and Johnson’s third. He has at least five other children from previous relationships.
The last British prime minister to marry in office was Lord Liverpool in 1822.
The nuptials are a surprise development, after reports earlier this week said the couple had sent out “save the date” cards for a wedding on July 30 next year.
They had been waiting months to tie the knot after their original plans to marry last year were delayed by the pandemic.
The Sun tabloid said the couple had been planning the “cloak and dagger operation” for a secret ceremony for up to six months.
Symonds arrived at the lunchtime nuptials in a limousine and wore “a stunning long and flowing white dress” but chose not to wear a veil, it added.
There were no descriptions of Johnson’s attire, with the mop-haired British leader infamous for his often disheveled appearance.
The same priest who baptized the couple’s son officiated the wedding, and Wilfred was also in attendance, according to The Sun.
The wedding came after a tumultuous political week for Johnson, who was accused by former top aide Dominic Cummings on Wednesday of bungling the government’s response to the coronavirus and being “unfit for the job.”
On Friday, an ethics inquiry found the prime minister acted “unwisely” in renovating his Downing Street apartment without knowing where the money had come from but it cleared him of misconduct.
The Times of Israel Community.