Boris Johnson marries Carrie Symonds in secret ceremony


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Boris Johnson married Carrie Symonds in a low-key ceremony planned in the strictest secrecy.

The couple exchanged vows in Westminster Cathedral on Saturday in front of a small group of close friends and family.

Initially, Downing Street did not comment on the wedding news, but on Sunday morning a spokesperson said: ‘The Prime Minister and Ms Symonds tied the knot yesterday afternoon in a small ceremony at Westminster Cathedral.

“The couple will celebrate their wedding with family and friends next summer.”

They reportedly sent backup cards to their family and friends for the July 30, 2022 celebration.

It is understood that Ms Symonds will take her husband’s last name and will be known as Carrie Johnson.

A photo posted by No.10 of the couple in the Downing Street Garden after the wedding saw them looking at each other with Ms Johnson wearing a long white dress and floral headband and the Prime Minister in a dark suit and blue tie, with a white flower in his buttonhole.

Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi extended his congratulations to them, but said his timing should not send the signal that the further easing of lockdown measures slated for June 21 will not happen.

Telling her that the timing suggested that a bigger wedding after June 21 was not planned, Mr Zahawi told Sky News: “I wouldn’t extrapolate any of that.

He added: “On June 14, we will be very clear about the data that we continue to collect from the third stage, which was May 17, and then we will share that with the nation, as the Prime Minister did. at each step of steps one, two and three, then of course the fourth step. “

People wearing musical instruments leave 10 Downing Street on Saturday night (Ian West / PA)

The couple announced their engagement – with the news that they were expecting their first child – in February last year.

This is Mr Johnson’s third marriage, having finalized his divorce from his second wife Marina Wheeler in 2020.

He and Mrs Johnson have a son, Wilfred, born in April 2020.

The wedding ceremony at the Catholic cathedral was hosted by Father Daniel Humphreys, who gave the couple pre-wedding instructions and baptized Wilfred last year, The Sun reported.

Shortly after 1:30 p.m., the cathedral was suddenly cleared of visitors, with staff saying it was going to be closed, the newspaper said.

Coronavirus - Sun Apr 12, 2020
Westminster Cathedral where Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds were married (Jonathan Brady / PA)

Half an hour later, a limousine carrying the bride swept through the square in front of the west main gate.

The ceremony means Mr Johnson became the first prime minister to marry in office since Lord Liverpool married Mary Chester in 1822.

Weddings in England are currently under strict coronavirus restrictions.

Ceremonies are authorized for a maximum of 30 people in places secured by Covid.

Wedding receptions are also permitted for a maximum of 30 people in a location secured by Covid or outside.

But dancing is not recommended due to the increased risk of transmission, with the exception of the couple’s traditional first dance.

Mr Johnson’s father Stanley was spotted in Downing Street after the ceremony, while guests and musicians were seen leaving No 10 on Saturday evening.

The wedding comes at the end of a difficult week for the Prime Minister in which his former aide, Dominic Cummings, called him unfit for duty.

The former aide to the PM said Ms Johnson had desperately wanted to kick him out of his role as Mr Johnson’s right-hand man and sought to place her own friends in key positions.

Mr Cummings also claimed that in February 2020, as the pandemic became a major global crisis, Mr Johnson was ‘distracted as he finalized his divorce, his girlfriend wanted to announce his pregnancy and engagement, as well as his finances.’

Cabinet Minister Thérèse Coffey sent her congratulations to the couple “for your marriage”.

Children and Families Minister Vicky Ford sent her congratulations and “great love to Wilf,” adding: “So many marriages have been delayed and disrupted by the covid. Life is always better with love ”

Northern Ireland’s Prime Minister Arlene Foster tweeted: ‘Congratulations to Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds on your wedding.’

But former Labor MP Jon Trickett said the wedding was’ a good way to bury this week’s bad news’ on Mr Cummings’ testimony, the spread of the Indian variant of the coronavirus and the dispute over funding from the Downing Street apartment.

Labor MP Tonia Antoniazzi suggested the ’emergency wedding plan’ was an attempt to ‘turn away from the negative press’ of Mr Cummings.

She added: “They know he won’t be able to schedule one in Checkers because he won’t be PM next year …”



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