Baby Johnson named in tribute to doctors (and yes, he has the hair)
BORIS JOHNSON and Carrie Symonds yesterday released the first picture of their baby son, named after the doctors who helped save his father’s life.
And perhaps not surprisingly for the son of a Prime Minister noted for his blond locks, Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson had a near full head of fair hair. Ms Symonds, 32, posted a picture of her cradling her newborn son on social media saying she “couldn’t be happier” and that her “heart is full”.
Mother and baby are understood to be back at No 10 with the Prime Minister. The infant was also named after Mr Johnson’s paternal grandfather, Wilfred Johnson, a decorated Second World War pilot, and Ms Symonds’s maternal grandfather, Lewis Lawrence, known as Lawrie.
Stanley Johnson, the baby’s grandfather, said he was “absolutely thrilled”. Speaking from his farm in Exmoor, he said: “I’m glad Carrie got her grandpa in there. It’s a good day for grandpas.”
Ms Symonds praised the maternity team at University College London Hospital for looking after them “so well” when she gave birth on Wednesday. The arrival of Wilfred came weeks after Mr Johnson was discharged from intensive care at St Thomas’ in London where he had been treated for coronavirus. Ms Symonds also suffered symptoms of the disease. Ms Symonds said the name Nicholas was a tribute to Dr Nick Price and Prof Nick Hart “the two doctors that saved Boris’ life last month”. Dr Price is a consultant in infectious diseases and general medicine while Prof Hart is the director of the Lane Fox Respiratory Service.
Of course he was always going to be born with a thick mop of fair hair. And as he was presented to the world yesterday, Boris Johnson’s and Carrie Symonds’ baby Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson appeared every inch the child of our time.
Wrapped in a cream crocheted baby blanket – and with just a closed eye and tiny ear on display – Downing Street’s newest arrival was blissfully unaware of the upside-down world he has been born into. Sleeping peacefully in his mother’s arms, the slightly blurry Instagram image marked a rare and welcome moment of domesticity, the floral backdrop of Ms Symonds’ blouse only adding to the innocence of the snapshot.
How comforting it was to finally have some happy news from No10 amid all the depressing statistics about the diseased and the dying. No wonder the Prime Minister has recently been quoting Cicero, the Roman philosopher who once concluded: “Dum anima est, spes est” – while there is life, there is hope. Having cheated death less than a month ago, Mr Johnson now holds new life in his hands – a father for the sixth time at the age of 55. It was only fitting, then, considering everything that has happened since he was admitted to St Thomas’ intensive care unit on April 7, that the couple should pay tribute to the doctors who helped save the Prime Minister’s life.
As well as a nod to their own ancestry, the baby’s third name, Nicholas, was in double recognition of the two Dr Nicks, Price and Hart, who brought Mr Johnson back from the brink last month. Dr Price became a consultant at Guy’s and St Thomas’ in 2005 and is the trust’s director of infection while Dr Hart is the clinical and academic director of the Lane Fox Respiratory piratory Unit which treated Mr Johnson.
As well as paying homage to those medical marvels, Ms Symonds, 32, also heaped praise on the staff at University College
London Hospital ital (UCLH), where baby Wilfred was born at 9am on Wednesday, saying: “Thank you so, so much to the incredible NHS maternity team at UCLH that looked after us so well. I couldn’t be happier. My heart is full.”
The third baby to be born to a serving prime minister in the past 20 years, the social media post dispensed with some of the stuffiness we may have associated with birth announcements of a bygone era. Similar to when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released that Instagram snap of baby Archie’s foot, this was intended to provide a glimpse, not a gawp. Having fiercely guarded the privacy of their relationship, there is no way this political power couple intend for their son to become public property. It therefore seems unlikely that there here will be a photocall on the steps of Downing Street as the Blairs did with Leo in 2002, and when the Camerons introduced Florence in 2010.
So it looks like we will have to wait to find out if those hose fair strands of baby hair turn into the blond thatch for which his father has long been famous. And the other names? Wilfred pays homage to Mr Johnson’s paternal grandfather, Osman Wilfred Kemal, described by a source close to the family as “like John Wayne, incredibly handsome and burly and macho; a war hero, just the most attractive man”. Lawrie is thought to refer to Ms Symonds’ maternal grandfather, Lewis Lawrence, who was a GP.
With no sport to bet on, the name finally gave Covid-stricken bookies cause for celebration. According to Ladbrokes, Wilfred had been the 5/1 favourite, followed by George, Thomas and, of course, Winston – Mr Johnson’s political hero – at 10/1. The newborn shares his name with a number of quintessentially British figures, including the First World War poet and soldier Wilfred Owen and the cricketer Wilfred Rhodes, the first Englishman to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in Test matches. Howzat?
In normal circumstances, the newfound family of three would be expected to take some time out, but the coronavirus crisis means Mr Johnson will have to postpone his paternity leave until later this year. But as the new parents settle back into No11 with their bouncing baby boy, and Jack Russell Dilyn, they will have many blessings to count. For amid the chaos, confusion, doom and gloom, the Johnson trio can celebrate a miraculous recovery, a safe delivery and the simple pleasure of being together at last.