TOPLINE
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomed a baby boy with his fiancée, Carrie Symonds, Wednesday morning at a London hospital—the latest addition to the Johnson family, the exact size of which the prime minister has tried to keep private from the British public.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a baby (not his own) as he met supporters during his 2019 ... [+]
KEY FACTS
Johnson has four children with ex-wife Marina Wheeler, a lawyer whom he divorced earlier this year after they separated in 2018.
The Prime Minister also has a fifth child, with art consultant Helen Macintyre, from an affair while Johnson was London’s mayor; though Macintyre attempted to keep the details of her daughter’s paternity private, appeals court judges ruled in 2013 that the public had a right to know about the extramarital liaison that produced the child.
Documents from those proceedings hint at allegations that Macintyre’s child with Johnson may be only one of two children Johnson had as a result of affairs.
Johnson has been fiercely guarded about the exact number of children he has fathered and their identities; during his 2019 campaign, he answered questions about how many he has by saying, "I love my children very much, but they are not standing at this election,” and “I’m not therefore going to comment on them.”
Johnson—previously referred to as “Bonking Boris” by some British tabloids—has led a complex private life, with two divorces under his belt and multiple rumored extramarital affairs.
KEY BACKGROUND
As for Johnson’s latest child, both mother and baby are reported to “be doing very well,” although it was not revealed at which London hospital the baby boy was born, his name or his birth weight. Previously, it was reported the baby would be born in early summer, but Johnson’s spokesperson would not say if the son was premature. On Monday, Johnson returned to work at Downing Street for the first time since spending three nights in intensive care being treated for coronavirus. Symonds, a former Conservative Party official, isolated herself after showing symptoms. Johnson will reportedly take paternity leave later this year.
FURTHER READING
British PM Johnson's fiancée gives birth to boy amid coronavirus crisis (Reuters)
Boris Johnson back at work at No 10 after Carrie Symonds gives birth (The Guardian)
Boris Johnson now has between 5 and 7 children (he refuses to say how many exactly) (Business Insider)
It’s a Boy: Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds Announce Birth of 1st Child (The New York Times
Boris Johnson won't take paternity leave until 'later in the year' after birth of baby boy with Carrie Symonds (Business Insider)
