UK PM Boris marries partner in secret ceremony
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has married his fiancée, Carrie Symonds, in a small private ceremony that came at the end of a tumultuous week during which a former top aide said he was unfit for office.
The couple wed on Saturday at the Roman Catholic Westminster Cathedral in front of a small group of friends and family, Johnson’s office said on Sunday, confirming newspaper reports that were published overnight.
“The Prime Minister and Ms. Symonds were married yesterday afternoon in a small ceremony at Westminster Cathedral,’’ Downing Street said. “The couple will celebrate their wedding with family and friends next summer,” the statement said.
The couple have reportedly sent save-the-date cards to family and friends for a celebration on July 30, 2022. Under current coronavirus restrictions in England, no more than 30 people can attend a wedding.
Johnson, 56, and Symonds, a 33-year-old Conservative Party insider and environmental advocate, announced their engagement in February 2020. Their son, Wilfred, was born in April last year. The marriage is Johnson’s third. He has at least five other children from previous relationships.
Johnson’s previous marriages would not have stopped him from having a Catholic wedding because they didn’t take place in the Catholic church, Matt Chinery, an ecclesiastical and canon lawyer, told Times Radio.
The wedding followed a difficult political week for Johnson. His former top aide, Dominic Cummings, told lawmakers that Johnson had bungled the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and said he was “unfit for the job”.