Boris Johnson marries Carrie Symonds at Westminster Cathedral

By Hazel Shearing & Kathryn SnowdonBBC News

image copyrightRebecca Fulton/Downing Street/PA Wire image captionBoris Johnson and Carrie Symonds in the garden of 10 Downing Street after their wedding

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has married his fiancee Carrie Symonds in a secretly-planned ceremony at Westminster Cathedral.

The wedding took place in a “small ceremony” on Saturday afternoon, a Downing Street spokesman said.

The spokesman added that the couple would celebrate again with family and friends next summer.

Mr Johnson is the first prime minister to get married while in office in nearly 200 years.

Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi offered his congratulations, saying it was “wonderful” news.

Mr Zahawi told Sky News that he was not invited to the ceremony, but congratulated the couple on their marriage.

“I think it’s a wonderful thing for both of them that they have really made their marriage vows to one another,” Mr Zahawi said.

Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey tweeted: “Congratulations @BorisJohnson and @carriesymonds on your marriage today.”

Northern Ireland’s First Minister Arlene Foster also wished them a “huge congratulations” on Twitter.

Although Mr Johnson has been married twice before, the Roman Catholic Church allows divorcees to remarry if the previous marriages were outside the Roman Catholic Church.

The Mail on Sunday reported that 30 guests were invited to the ceremony at short notice – the maximum number of attendees allowed under Covid restrictions in England.

A small number of church officials were involved in preparations for the Catholic ceremony, which was officiated by Father Daniel Humphreys, it said.

The Sun said senior Downing Street aides did not know about the wedding beforehand.

Members of the public were asked to leave Westminster Cathedral just after 13:30 BST, it added.

Ms Symonds, 33, who wore a white dress to exchange vows with the prime minister, is reported to have arrived in a limo about half an hour later.

Musicians were pictured leaving No 10 on Saturday night.

image captionPeople carrying musical instruments were seen leaving Downing Street on Saturday evening

The last prime minister to get married while in office was Robert Banks Jenkinson in 1822.

Ms Symonds was first romantically linked to Mr Johnson, 56, by the media in early 2019.

Ms Symonds used to work in the Conservative Party press office, which she joined in 2010, and two years later she worked on Mr Johnson’s successful campaign to be re-elected as mayor in London.

She became the party’s head of communications before leaving in 2018 to work in public relations for marine conservation organisation Oceana.

The couple revealed that they were engaged and that she was pregnant in February 2020.

Their son, Wilfred, was born last April.

Mr Johnson and his previous wife, Marina Wheeler, announced in 2018 that they were divorcing after 25 years of marriage.

He was previously married to Allegra Mostyn-Owen.