Boris Johnson marries Carrie Symonds in secret wedding
Boris Johnson has married his fiancee Carrie Symonds in a clandestine wedding ceremony yesterday at Westminster Cathedral.
Johnson surprised SW1 yesterday when it emerged he had wed Symonds in a secretly planned ceremony in which no media was present.
The couple released a wedding day picture this morning to celebrate the news.
A Downing Street spokesperson said it was a “small ceremony” and that the couple would celebrate with a larger event next summer.
Johnson became the first Prime Minister in 200 years to get married in office, after being the first ever to live in Downing Street with a non-marital partner.
It came after widespread reports last week that the pair were to get married in a large ceremony next summer.
The Mail on Sunday reports that 30 people attended the ceremony, with The Sun reporting that even Downing Street aides were left in the dark about the event.
Johnson was able to marry in the Catholic Westminster Cathedral despite being twice divorced as his first two weddings were not Catholic ceremonies.
Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi congratulated his boss on Sky News this morning.
“I think it’s a wonderful thing for both of them that they have really made their marriage vows to one another,” Zahawi said.
Johnson split from his wife Marina Wheeler in 2018, after years of public scandals about the Prime Minister’s infedility.
It was revealed shortly after his split that he had been dating Symonds – a former director of communications for the Conservative party.
Former Johnson aide Dominic Cummings said this week that Symonds had been exerting power over the Prime Minister by trying to get jobs for her friends in Downing Street.