Boris Johnson has said he is ‘absolutely delighted’ about becoming a father again with new fiancee Carrie Symonds – but his second wife Marina is reportedly ‘crushed’ and their four children ‘furious’ about his news.
Ms Wheeler, who recently beat cervical cancer, is divorcing Mr Johnson after throwing him out in 2018 amid claims he was having an affair with Ms Symonds.
She is also said to be aggrieved that Boris became engaged and tried for a baby while they are divorcing.
A friend told the Daily Mirror: ‘Marina has had a tough year with her health scare and the divorce and is very worried about how the kids are handling it too. She’s just in pieces over it all’ – another insider added the 55-year-old QC was ‘crushed’ by the news.
Mr Johnson is thought to have told their four children Lara Lettice, 26, Milo Arthur, 24, Cassia Peaches, 22, and Theodore Apollo, 20, last week that he and Carrie are having a baby.
But not all of his children reportedly bothered to turn up for their father’s announcement are are said to be ‘furious’ because they believe Carrie and Boris got together after an affair.
Boris Johnson’s second wife Marina (pictured together in 2015) is reportedly ‘crushed’ and their four children ‘furious’ about his decision to marry again and have another child – his sixth
Carrie announced they were engaged and having a baby on Saturday night – Boris told his children last week but not all of them turned up to hear it in person, it has been reported
Boris, pictured with his four children from his marriage to Marina, right, pictured together in London when she became a QC in 2016
On discovering his relationship with with Carrie, who is 24 years Boris’ junior, Lara told friends he was a ‘selfish b*****d’ and all the children are said to have been supporting their mother through the divorce.
Boris has a fifth child from an affair with art consultant Helen Macintyre.
Boris and Carrie’s announcement was made just 11 days after his divorce settlement with Marina Wheeler was agreed in court.
The couple had been married for 27 years and have four children with Ms Wheeler, a successful barrister, reportedly in line to receive £4million from her husband.
Reports have suggested that Mr Johnson and Miss Symonds might ‘slip away quietly abroad to marry in private’ but their plans are unknown.
Ms Wheeler was granted a decree nisi by the courts more than a year ago – but it is not yet confirmed if a decree absolute has been issued.
The Prime Minister, 55, and Carrie Symonds confirmed they were engaged and expecting a baby, following months of rumours inside Westminster.
Asked about the pregnancy yesterday, he smiled as he responded: ‘Absolutely delighted, I’m absolutely delighted, of course.’
However, Mr Johnson has not revealed if he intends to take paternity leave – and the baby is believed to be due at the time of a series of crucial foreign summits.
Miss Symonds, 31, has told friends she is around five months’ pregnant, meaning she is likely to give birth in June.
Mr Johnson is due to attend key events including the G7 summit in the US and the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Rwanda that month.
He is also expected at a high-level Brexit summit in the days before a crucial European Council meeting in Brussels, meaning he could be away from Britain for at least 11 days in June.
Boris’ daughter Lara (together in 2012) reportedly branded her father a ‘selfish b*****d’ after allegations he had an affair with Carrie surfaced in 2018
Mr Johnson is believed to have proposed to Miss Symonds during their Christmas break in Mustique, but the pair kept the engagement quiet while his divorce from his second wife was agreed.
The couple met when Miss Symonds worked on his successful bid for a second term as London Mayor in 2012, but were only linked romantically in 2018, shortly after his split from Miss Wheeler.
The wedding will be Mr Johnson’s third and he has at least five children already – four with Miss Wheeler and a fifth from an affair with art consultant Helen Macintyre.
He will become the first prime minister in history to get divorced, and married, and have a baby while living in Downing Street.
David Cameron and wife Samantha had their youngest daughter Florence in 2010, three months after he entered Downing Street. Tony Blair and wife Cherie had youngest child Leo when he was PM in 2000. Mrs Blair revealed in her memoirs that he was conceived on a visit to Balmoral. The timing of Miss Symonds’ announcement prompted speculation that she also could have fallen pregnant at the Queen’s estate in Scotland.
She and Mr Johnson spent a night at the castle but returned to London the next day.
It has also been suggested that the baby was conceived during the Conservative Party conference in Manchester in October – his first as PM.
Carrie Symonds was pictured in public for the first time in more than two months, on February 14. Boris Johnson’s partner was spotted leaving through the more-discreet back entrance to No 10 Downing Street in central London
Bookmakers have begun offering odds for the name even though the gender is not yet known, with Charlotte and James early favourites.
Winston and Emmeline have also been popular, because of the Prime Minister’s wartime hero and Miss Symonds’ support for women’s rights. Stanley has been mooted as a tribute to Mr Johnson’s father.
Stanley Johnson, 79, hinted at the latest addition to his family in an interview for this month’s edition of Saga magazine. He spoke about enjoying time with his grandchildren and said there may be ‘more on the way’.
Miss Symonds confirmed her pregnancy on Instagram, alongside a photograph of Mr Johnson kissing her cheek, apparently taken during their Mustique holiday.
She said: ‘I wouldn’t normally post this kind of thing on here but I wanted my friends to find out from me.
‘Many of you already know but for my friends that still don’t, we got engaged at the end of last year.
‘And we’ve got a baby hatching early summer. Feel incredibly blessed.’
Two weddings, three affairs, at least five kids, and a pole-dancing tech-guru: The very busy love life of Boris Johnson
The news that Boris Johnson’s girlfriend Carrie Symonds is pregnant, and that the pair are engaged, marks the latest chapter in the PM’s turbulent love life.
His first marriage at the age of 23 to Allegra Mostyn-Owen in 1987 collapsed six years later after it emerged he was having an affair with childhood friend Marina Wheeler.
Boris’s subsequent marriage to Marina lasted 25 years – during which he had affairs with three women.
Here, we outline the Prime Minister’s colourful past relationships – as well as his links to one alleged ex-lover of his – former pole dancer, and tech guru, Jennifer Arcuri.
1987: The first wife, Allegra Mostyn-Owen, whom he met at Oxford
Boris married his Oxford University sweetheart Allegra Mostyn-Owen in 1987 when they were both aged 23.
They divorced in 1993 after his affair with the woman who would become his second wife, Marina Wheeler.
Boris Johnson married Oxford University sweetheart Allegra Mostyn-Owen (pictured together) in 1987 when they were both aged 23
The couple (above) divorced in 1993 after his affair with the woman who would become his second wife, Marina Wheeler
The daughter of renowned art historian William Mostyn-Owen and flamboyant Italian writer Gaia Servadio, Allegra was a socialite and former Tatler cover girl whose beauty had besotted young men falling at her feet at Oxford University.
‘When we got married, that was actually the end of the relationship instead of the beginning,’ Allegra would later say.
Their relationship ended after six years following revelations of his affair with Marina Wheeler QC, who was a childhood friend of Boris.
Marina became pregnant with the first of their four children before his divorce from Allegra was finalised.
Johnson later reconciled with Mostyn-Owen before they separated in February 1990 and divorced in 1993 – just 12 days before he married Marina Wheeler, whom he had a child with five weeks later.
1993: Boris marries Marina Wheeler – the woman who stood by him for years… but left her just as he was on the brink of becoming PM
Marina Wheeler married Boris on May 8, 1993 – just 12 days after his divorce from Allegra was finalised on April 26.
Together, Boris and Marina have four children: Lara Lettice, Milo Arthur, Cassia Peaches and Theodore Apollo.
After first meeting Boris at the European School of Brussels, they also attended private boarding school Bedales in Hampshire together before she went to Cambridge.
Marina Wheeler married Boris married on May 8, 1993 – just 12 days after his divorce from Allegra was finalised on April 26. (The pair are pictured in 2015)
Together, Boris and Marina (above, in 2008) have four children: Lara Lettice, Milo Arthur, Cassia Peaches and Theodore Apollo
Born in Berlin in 1964, she is of English and Indian Sikh descent. After being called to the bar in 1987, Marina returned to London.
Marina and Boris met again in London when they were both in their mid-twenties.
The couple remained married for 25 years despite Boris’s spectacularly colourful love life.
Marina endured multiple public humiliations over Boris’s well-publicised affairs – locking her high profile husband out of the house more than once – only to forgive him, prior to their final split in 2018.
The affairs
2004: Petronella Wyatt and the ‘inverted pyramid of piffle’
In 2004, Boris’s four-year affair with journalist and society author Petronella Wyatt (pictured), the daughter of Labour grandee Lord Wyatt, became public
Around seven years into his marriage to Marina, she became aware that Boris was having an affair with Petronella Wyatt, daughter of Margaret Thatcher’s favourite journalist Woodrow Wyatt.
In 2004, it was reported that ‘Petsy’ may have had an abortion, to which Boris declared to The Mail on Sunday: ‘I had not had an affair with Petronella.
‘It is complete balderdash. It is an inverted pyramid of piffle.’
Boris was soon found to be lying and after days of publicity, Tory leader Michael Howard sacked Johnson from his position as Shadow Culture Minister.
2006: Emergence of liaisons with Anna Fazackerley
In 2006, it emerged Boris had been having an affair with journalist Anna Fazackerley (above)
Alongside this, Marina was also alerted to another affair that Boris had been having with journalist Anna Fazackerley, which emerged in 2006.
When the affairs garnered publicity, it also became public knowledge that Marina had become pregnant at the time that Boris was still married to Allegra, who was quoted saying: ‘I divorced him for adultery. It enabled him to marry Marina.’
The divorce had been finalised on April 26, 1993 and Boris married Marina on May 8 of the same year, with Lara Johnson being born on June 12.
Marina threw her husband out of their home after his affair with Anna was publicised, but they soon worked things out.
2009: The love child with Helen Macintyre
Mr Johnson is said to have fathered a child with art consultant Helen Macintyre (pictured) in 2009. It is understood Miss Wheeler again kicked him out of the family home
In 2009, Mr Johnson is said to have fathered a child with art consultant Helen Macintyre.
It is understood Mrs Wheeler had, again, kicked him out of the family home at the time.
Mr Johnson’s fatherhood of Miss Macintyre’s daughter was first revealed by the Daily Mail in July 2010.
In 2013, a court ruled that it was in the public interest for the Press to report Mr Johnson was the father.
Police probe into Boris’s links with alleged ex-lover Jennifer Arcuri
Mr Johnson has faced two separate inquiries over his relationship with American former pole dancer and tech entrepreneur Jennifer Arcuri, 34, while he was Mayor of London, both of which were put on hold during the election.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has been evaluating whether to investigate the Prime Minister for possible criminal offence of misconduct in public office since September.
The watchdog confirmed it was doing a ‘scoping exercise’ to track down witnesses globally, and said that it had ‘never put a timescale on how long this process would take’, according to the Observer.
Mr Johnson has faced two separate inquiries over his relationship with American former pole dancer and tech entrepreneur Jennifer Arcuri (pictured), 34, while he was Mayor of London, both of which were put on hold during the election
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has been evaluating whether to investigate the Prime Minister for possible criminal offence of misconduct in public office since September. (Above, Ms Arcuri strikes a pose)
Boris Johnson and Jennifer Arcuri pictured together on October 14, 2014. The PM faces intense scrutiny about their relationship
In a statement, the IPOC said that the allegation date back ‘eight years’ and they have to ‘locate and speak with a number of potential witnesses both in the country and abroad’.
Mr Johnson has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to his friendship with Ms Arcuri.
On October 3 last year, Ms Arcuri told the Daily Mail she had ‘every right’ to go on trade missions with Mr Johnson. She calls all the allegations false, saying she is a ‘legitimate businesswoman’.
It follows a report by The Sunday Times that Ms Arcuri, an American who moved to London seven years ago, was given £126,000 in public money and was treated to privileged access to three foreign trade missions led by Mr Johnson while he was mayor.
The Government has since frozen a £100,000 grant to Ms Arcuri’s company, Hacker House, pending a review.
It is facing embarrassing questions about the verification process carried out before awarding the money.
Digital Minister Matt Warman told the Commons that his department had done the ‘usual due diligence’ and that the company had a British phone number.
However, numerous reports said calls to the number were directed to an office in California, where Ms Arcuri, 34, is said to now be based.
Boris Johnson’s divorce from Marina Wheeler
Boris Johnson and his estranged wife Marina Wheeler agreed a divorce settlement on February 18 this year, following a legal dispute over money.
Judge Sarah Gibbons oversaw a private hearing in the Central Family Court in London, which neither party attended.
During the short hearing, she gave Ms Wheeler permission to apply for a Decree Absolute, which would bring the marriage to an end.
A case number revealed Mr Johnson, who is now living with Carrie Symonds at Downing Street, and Ms Wheeler were involved in a dispute over money or assets.
Marina Claire Wheeler was named as the ‘petitioner’ and ‘applicant’ in the case, while Alexander Boris De Pfeffel Johnson was named as the ‘respondent’.
Mr Johnson was said to have had £6.5million in cash and assets as of September 2018, but will have likely seen his wealth rise since becoming Prime Minister last July.
It is therefore plausible that Ms Wheeler will be receiving around £4million if it is an equal split. However, the judge said no detail from the case relating to money can be revealed in reports, apart from what is already in the public domain.
Judge Gibbons gave Ms Wheeler permission to apply for the decree absolute ‘out of time’.
This suggests that she was granted a decree nisi by the courts more than a year ago.
Those who are successfully granted a decree nisi have up to a year to apply for the next stage of divorce, the decree absolute.