Party preparations under way for the PM
A marquee, a heart-shaped orchard and JCB tycoon’s Georgian pile set the scene for PM’S wedding party
Photographs taken yesterday showed preparations are well under way for this weekend’s party to celebrate the Prime Minister’s marriage to Carrie Johnson, with whom he has two children. The images show a huge marquee in a field on the 1,500-acre estate of Daylesford House, the country retreat of Lord Bamford, a friend of the Johnsons and a Tory party donor. A large gazebo has also been erected at the rear of the Georgian Grade I listed Cotswolds house.
Well-placed sources said the wedding guest list will not be “political” with many close advisers not invited
THIS may not be Boris Johnson’s first ever wedding celebration (he’s had a few) but it is likely to be his grandest, and most romantic.
Photographs taken yesterday showed preparations are well under way for this weekend’s party to celebrate the Prime Minister’s marriage to Carrie Johnson, with whom he has two children.
The images show a huge marquee in a field on the 1,500-acre estate of Daylesford House, the country retreat of Lord Bamford, a friend of the Johnsons and a Conservative Party donor. A large gazebo has been erected at the rear of the house – a Georgian grade I listed mansion in the Cotswolds – while an orchard cut out into a heart-shape may also provide a romantic backdrop to a party long overdue.
The couple had intended to celebrate their wedding at Chequers, the Prime Minister’s country retreat, but the furore following his forced resignation scuppered those plans. Lord Bamford stepped in to rescue the event, providing a backdrop every bit as grand as had been planned.
Sources told The Daily Telegraph last night that Mrs Johnson, 34, was “very much” in charge of the guest list for a party that follows more than a year on from their actual wedding at Westminster Cathedral in May last year. The couple were then able to invite 30 guests under Covid restrictions and many of those will be back this time for a party expected to cater for 150 to 200 people.
Well-placed sources said the wedding guest list would not be “political” with many of Mr Johnson’s closest advisers in Downing Street not invited to the bash. His one-time close friend Michael Gove, who was sacked after telling Mr Johnson to resign in the wake of a Cabinet and ministerial revolt, is also off the guest list. Mr Gove did not attend the original wedding a year ago.
It is unclear, too, if Mr Johnson’s four children from his second marriage to Marina Wheeler will go. Friends say relations remain fractious after Mr Johnson, 58, left Ms Wheeler for his then lover Carrie Symonds. The Prime Minister’s siblings are expected along with his father, Stanley, who also went to the Downing Street wedding party last May.
Mrs Johnson’s closest friends are understood to be attending, among them Nimco Ali, a human rights campaigner, and Josh Grimstone, a oneas time special adviser to Mr Gove. Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park, with whom Mrs Johnson has worked in the past as a Tory party strategist, is also understood to be going.
Of Mr Johnson’s close friends, Hugo Dixon, an Old Etonian once described a “turbocharged Remainer” is also expected to be among the guests.
Downing Street has refused to be drawn on the guest list or the details of the wedding such as the entertainment and the speeches. A No 10 spokesman said: ‘We do not comment on speculation regarding private or family matters which do not involve any ministerial declarations or taxpayer funds.’
Lord Bamford and his wife Lady Carole Bamford, who set up the hugely successful Daylesford Organic farm brand, are likely to be in attendance. Lord Bamford is chairman of JCB, one of whose diggers Mr Johnson drove through a wall to emphasise his desire to “Get Brexit Done” back in December 2019. The stunt was as memorable as the Johnsons’ wedding party is likely to be.