Carrie Symonds, the fiancee of UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has been delivered of a baby boy.
The Prime Minister was pictured beaming as he arrived back at 10 Downing Street on Wednesday, after Carrie Symonds gave birth, while the Queen sent the couple a “private message of good wishes” to congratulate them on their first child together.
Mr. Johnson is said to have been by his 32-year-old fiancee’s side throughout the labour in the early hours of this morning (Wednesday) and thanked “the fantastic NHS maternity team” who brought their son into the world.
But as he scrambles to get a grip on the coronavirus crisis, the PM left Carrie in a London hospital and returned to Downing Street amid concerns that key decisions over the lockdown and how to ease Britain out of it could slip because of the new baby.
Mr Johnson also said in early March that he would probably take his two-week paternity leave when their child was born, but No 10 confirmed this afternoon he will delay his fortnight off until “later in the year.”
So how many children is that now, Boris?
The baby Carrie Symonds gave birth to is her first child, but for fiancé Boris Johnson the experience of parenthood is one that will feel very familiar.
The Prime Minister now has at least six children, yet has not officially confirmed the exact number after leading a tangled love life that has seen him married twice.
Both marriages ended after he had affairs. It may seem extraordinary that the number of children a Prime Minister has is not public record, yet that is the situation.
What is known is that Mr Johnson and Marina Wheeler, who separated in 2018, have four children together: Lara Lettice, 26, Milo Arthur, 24, Cassia Peaches, 22, and Theodore Apollo, 20.
He also has a fifth child, Stephanie Macintyre, with art consultant Helen Macintyre. Stephanie is allegedly one of two children he fathered as a result of an affair.
The Appeal Court ruled in 2013 that the public had a right to know that he had fathered a daughter during an adulterous liaison while he was Mayor of London in 2009. But also mentioned the possibility of a second baby.
It is not known if the Prime Minister has any more children— but his baby boy with Carrie Symonds is officially his sixth.
The safe arrival of their baby, Carrie’s first and officially Boris’s sixth, has come as a shock because Miss Symonds was expected to give birth in the early summer, although a due date was never confirmed.
The newborn came just three weeks after his father was fighting coronavirus in intensive care.
Announcing the birth of their son, who has not been named yet, his spokesman said: “The Prime Minister and Miss Symonds are thrilled to announce the birth of a healthy baby boy at a London hospital earlier this morning(Wednesday).
“Both mother and baby are doing very well. The PM and Miss Symonds would like to thank the fantastic NHS maternity team.”
He added at a lobby briefing this afternoon(Wednesday) : “The PM was with Ms Symonds this morning for the birth of his son and is now back at work in Number 10.”
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The Queen celebrates
The Queen has sent a private message of good wishes to Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds to congratulate them on the birth of their son, Buckingham Palace said in a statement, as messages of goodwill flooded in from all over the world.
No 10 has not revealed the hospital the baby was born in, although St. Thomas, where Mr Johnson was in ICU just over a fortnight ago, is the closest to Downing Street.
It was previously reported that Carrie had wanted a home birth but these have largely been suspended by the NHS because of coronavirus.
The new family are planning to live in their Downing Street flat along with their dog Dilyn, the spokesman confirmed, adding Mr Johnson had left hospital and was back working in Westminster.
The couple got engaged while holidaying on the exclusive Caribbean island of Mustique over the new year and announced they would marry and were having a baby on February 29, days after the PM’s divorce from Marina Wheeler was confirmed.
The birth came after an extraordinary month for the couple, who were self-isolating separately, first because of Carrie’s pregnancy and then when Boris fell ill.
Mr Johnson then spent a week in hospital, including three days in intensive care, and Miss Symonds was also briefly bedridden with symptoms of Covid-19, but made a full recovery.
They were only reunited last week at Chequers before she went into labour.
Mr. Johnson is said to have been by her side throughout the birth. She sent him scans of the baby while he was ill with coronavirus earlier this month to raise his spirits.
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