U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson married his fiancée Saturday afternoon in a ceremony that the couple reportedly managed to keep secret from even some of Johnson’s top aides until the last minute.
Johnson, 56, showed up to Westminster Cathedral on Saturday with fiancée Carrie Symonds, 33, apparently without arousing suspicions of the British media. The prime minister’s wedding was kept secret until hours later, at which point the Daily Mail and The Sun reported on it, the latter describing it as “so secret even top aides didn’t know about it.”
BORIS Johnson and Carrie Symonds even caught top Downing Street aides by surprise with their cloak-and-dagger nuptials.
Tourists visiting Westminster Cathedral yesterday were also blissfully unaware it was about to host the wedding of the year.
Posting on her personal Instagram today, Carrie wrote: “Thank you for the kind messages. Very, very happy” along with a picture of her and Boris looking besotted on the big day.
A spokesperson for N0. 10 Downing Street, the U.K. prime minister’s office, confirmed the wedding to the Daily Mail in a statement: “The Prime Minister and Ms Symonds were married yesterday afternoon in a small ceremony at Westminster Cathedral. The couple will celebrate their wedding with family and friends next summer.”
The wedding was particularly surprising because the couple sent out save-the-date invitations for July, 30, 2022 mere days ago, prompting speculation that they were planning something extravagant. “Opting for a date more than a year hence, when it is hoped Covid protocols will be in the past, means there’s no reason not to have a great big wedding, perhaps at Chequers,” reported The Sunday Times last week.
According to the Daily Mail, about thirty people attended the ceremony, most of whom reportedly only found out about it last-minute as well. The cathedral was set on a lockdown shortly before the couple arrived for the big event. Father Michael Donaghey, the cathedral chaplain, was reportedly not told the identity of the bride and groom in advance either. “It’s been kept very confidential,” said Donaghey.
A colleague of Johnson’s, however, told The Sun there were signs Johnson was preparing for a big day. “I was a bit surprised when he turned up for a meeting the other day with a smart haircut,” he said. “He wasn’t his usual unkempt self and the first thing that entered my mind was that he might be attending some sort of special occasion.”
“I thought it might be a VIP summit but never suspected it might be a surprise wedding,” said Johnson’s colleague, who is of the same political party.
Johnson became engaged in 2019, shortly before his divorce with his second wife was finalized. He is only the second prime minister to be married while in office — the first having been married 199 years ago. The two have a one-year-old son together named Wilfred.