Exclusive
SECRET WEDDING
Boris Johnson MARRIES Carrie Symonds at Westminster Cathedral in ceremony 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 on May 29, 2021 were also blissfully unaware it was about to host the wedding of the year.
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Posting on her personal Instagram, 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.
At 2pm, half an hour after the church suddenly locked down, a limo containing Carrie swept into the piazza by the main west door.
She stepped out wearing a flowing white dress, but with no veil.
The Prime Minister, 56, and his bride, 33, then walked down the aisle of the tiny Lady Chapel to classical music and shared a kiss after their vows were read.
Their year-old son Wilfred was there to see the happy occasion, along with two official witnesses.
Today Boris and his new wife shared the first touching picture from their ceremony.
A source close to Carrie said: “They are both absolutely thrilled.
"The whole thing has been conducted amid great secrecy and planned meticulously.
“It was just their secret and that made the day so special.”
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This morning, No10 confirmed: “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 event was six months in the planning. Fewer than 30 guests had been invited, all of whom were told at the last minute.
They were thought to include Boris’s dad Stanley and sister Julia, who were seen at No10 yesterday.
A marquee was later spotted in the garden, with guests singing Don McLean’s American Pie.
The ceremony was carried out by Father Daniel Humphreys, who baptised Wilfred last year.
Top No10 advisers were astonished when The Sun on Sunday informed them of the PM’s big day.
Conservationist and former Tory PR chief Carrie is his third wife.
Boris is the first PM to marry while in office in 199 years.
Cops mounted a massive security operation around the gathering, including several cars believed to be staffed with armed police.
A witness told how the cathedral went into lockdown around 1.30pm.
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They said: “It was closed for about half an hour and they all came out after.
“It’s not often we have weddings here, and when they came out they were all bundled into a car. It looked like they didn’t want anyone to know who it was.”
A member of staff said: “Yes, there was a wedding - it was the Prime Minister. His bride looked beautiful. She had a long dress with no veil. She looked made up.
“He was extremely happy, as you can imagine. He looked very smart in a very dapper suit.
“She came down the aisle and he didn’t take his eyes off her. They read their vows then shared a kiss. They looked besotted.”
Another staff member said: “I was shocked when I heard who was getting married. It was kept very quiet. We only knew yesterday. Security has been tight.”
The Byzantine-style cathedral, mother church of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, is 300 yards from Victoria Station, and just a mile-and-a-half from Downing Street.
Big Issue seller Adrian Richmond, 52, was in the area at the time.
PM's relationship with Carrie
Carrie Symonds reportedly grew close to Boris Johnson in 2018 when he was then Foreign Secretary.
Marina Wheeler, then married to Boris, later filed for divorce.
In July 2019, Boris became PM - and both he and Carrie moved into 10 Downing Street.
She made her first public appearance after moving in on August 16 2019, when she addressed the "gigantic" climate crisis.
On February 29 2020, the couple announced they were engaged and expecting their first child.
Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson was born on April 29 2020 at University College Hospital in London.
It's Carrie's first wedding - and Boris's third.
He tied the knot with first wife Allegra Mostyn-Owen in 1987.
That marriage was annulled in 1993 — the same year he married Marina Wheeler. The couple had four children but separated in 2018.
They formally divorced weeks before news emerged of Boris’s engagement to Carrie.
The only other PM to marry in office was Lord Liverpool who wed Mary Chester in 1822. His first wife Louisa, 54, died the previous year.
Boris is also thought to be the first PM to divorce in office since Augustus FitzRoy, the 3rd Duke of Grafton.
He said: “Somebody I recognise came out of a service there earlier in the day and said, ‘You won’t believe who’s getting married here later!’ He said, ‘It’s Boris Johnson’.
“My jaw nearly dropped to the floor. This is smack bang in central London."
Touchingly, he added: "I wish Boris the best of luck. I think he’s doing a terrific job in such difficult circumstances. It’s been such a tough year.
"He’s been through so much and nearly died. He deserves some happiness."
A Tory colleague of Boris remarked: “I was a bit surprised when he turned up for a meeting the other day with a smart haircut.
"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.”
Hours before the nuptials Carrie shared a picture on Instagram of Wilfred in a field of bluebells — possibly a nod to the wedding tradition of “something blue”.
In the post, Carrie, who works for the Kent-based Aspinall Foundation, also told how proud she was of its work rescuing elephants in Africa, calling it “truly amazing”.
It's thought Boris's previous marriages could have been recognised as annulled to allow him a Catholic wedding.
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