Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds gave the world its first glimpse of their baby son yesterday – and the three-day-old already had Dad’s hair.
The Prime Minister and his fiancee revealed the blond boy’s full name to be Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, in part a tribute to two leading NHS doctors who ‘saved Boris’ life last month’ following his touch-and-go battle with Covid-19.
Ms Symonds also said that ‘my heart is full’ in the caption accompanying the only picture of the pair’s first child.
She added: ‘Thank you so, so much to the incredible NHS maternity team at UCLH that looked after us so well. I couldn’t be happier.’
Mr Johnson is understood to have told friends he is ‘utterly thrilled’ with the arrival of his new son, who is believed to be his sixth child.
Ms Symonds, 32, gave birth at University College London Hospital in London at 9am on Wednesday with the PM at her side, just days after his own release from hospital after the coronavirus had landed him in intensive care.
The new mum called the team at UCLH’s Elizabeth Garrett Anderson maternity wing, named after a pioneering doctor and women’s rights campaigner, ‘incredible’.
UCLH chief executive Professor Marcel Levi last night congratulated the couple saying: ‘We wish them every happiness at this special time. I would like to thank the teams who cared for Carrie and her baby.
‘They are an incredibly skilled, dedicated and compassionate group of professionals.’
Until last night’s picture, showing Ms Symonds in what appeared to be a £225 Poets Road dress by Justine Tabak, a London fashion label she is known to support, the couple had been reluctant to reveal any details of Wilfred’s birth.
And The Mail on Sunday has learnt the pair do not intend to make their newborn a ‘public figure’, despite growing up in the flat above 11 Downing Street.
Carrie Symonds has revealed the name of her and Boris Johnson’s newborn son is Wilfred, after the Prime Minister’s grandfather, as the beaming parents shared the first photograph of the baby boy on Instagram
A heart-warming caption revealed the boy’s full name as Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, with Lawrie a reference to Ms Symond’s grandfather and Nicholas a tribute to the two doctors that ‘saved Boris’ life’
Carrie Symonds (pictured on March 9) has revealed the name of her and Boris Johnson’s newborn son as Wilfred, after the Prime Minister’s grandfather, as the proud parents shared the first photograph of their baby boy with the world
The couple revealed the boy’s full name as Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, with the first name a tribute to Mr Johnson’s paternal grandfather, Osman Wilfred Kemal (pictured)
Boris Johnson’s grandfather, Wilfred, is pictured standing with his wife Irene, his eldest son Peter (left), his eldest daughter Hilary (right), his youngest daughter Gillian (kneeling) and his son Stanley (Boris’ own father)
Ms Symonds is understood to have chosen a picture that deliberately did not show the baby’s face and will shun the path taken by some previous Prime Ministers who had babies while in office.
Both David Cameron and Tony Blair regularly posed for photographs in and around No10 with their newborns Florence and Leo.
However Gordon Brown maintained strict rules against photographing his young sons when he lived in Downing Street, with the world only ever seeing the boys when they accompanied the departing premier on his last day in office.
An insider said last night: ‘I would expect Boris and Carrie to be more Gordon than Tony.’
The new arrival has significantly lightened the mood in No10 after a dark month in which the PM almost lost his life.
When it became clear that Mr Johnson’s new baby would arrive at the end of his convalescence from coronavirus, his ‘inner inner circle’ were confronted with the ultimate diary clash.
A secret plan to bluff the Westminster grapevine was hatched in Downing Street.
Only a tiny handful of core aides and friends knew how far advanced Ms Symonds’ pregnancy was, and were determined to fulfil the couple’s wishes to avoid the media storm that would have inevitably followed had the news of the baby’s impending birth leaked out.
A source said: ‘As a first-time mum, Carrie was rightly determined to do this her way and wanted as much privacy as she could possibly get.’
On Tuesday, the core team were told that Ms Symonds would be admitted to hospital shortly before Mr Johnson was due to make his Commons return at Prime Ministers Questions.
No10 officials allowed journalists to speculate that Mr Johnson had not confirmed his attendance because of lingering health concerns. After all, he had only been back in Downing Street from his convalescence at Chequers for two days.
Several social media users were also left red-faced after claiming Mr Johnson was ‘frit’ and ‘a coward’ too scared to face down new Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at the Dispatch Box.
Ministers left in the dark were also passing dark mutterings to journalists about the PM’s ill health, speculating whether he had returned to work too fast.
In fact, the couple slipped out of Downing Street in the early hours of Wednesday, being sure not to be snapped by photographers.
Mr Johnson was by Ms Symonds side for the birth but, despite leaving PMQs to Foreign Secretary and caretaker Prime Minister Dominic Raab, he was back at his desk in Downing Street by 1pm on Wednesday for a video call with Sir Keir.
Strict Covid-19 rules applying to all new dads meant Mr Johnson could not stay in the hospital with Ms Symonds and their son, but they remained in contact via Facetime until she returned to Downing Street later in the week, again managing to avoid photographers and even most of the staff.
For all the misinformation about Mr Johnson’s health – and concerns provoked by his breathless return to the daily coronavirus press conference on Thursday – in reality, staff at No10 had been struck by how buoyant the PM has seemed.
‘He is firing on all cylinders,’ said one. Although he is still on the mend from his debilitating three-day intensive care stay, sources insist that he is reinvigorated.
‘In some ways, certainly in mood, he is in better shape than when he left,’ said one. ‘The illness finally forced him to take some proper rest.’
Another friend of Mr Johnson’s added: ‘He hasn’t stopped since this time last year. First there was the stress of when the leadership contest would be, then the battle itself, then straight into Brexit hell and straight into a General Election, swiftly followed by the biggest crisis to face a PM since the war. No wonder he needed some sleep.’
Meanwhile, the private circumstances of the birth have put Ministers in a quandary: do they send presents to the PM, or would that look too ‘suck-uppy’, as one put it.
In the end, the consensus was to send gifts, but with restraint. ‘No one wants to look like teacher’s pet, except maybe Michael Gove – he will no doubt lead the whip-round,’ one Cabinet rival quipped.
Ms Symonds gave birth in London on Wednesday morning with the Prime Minister at her side, days after he himself had been released from medical care following a lengthy battle with coronavirus.
Among the first to send their wellwishes following today’s announcement were Dr Nick Price and Prof Nick Hart, who said they were ‘honoured and humbled’ to serve as the inspiration for the newborn’s middle name Nicholas.
They said in a statement: ‘Our warm congratulations go to the Prime Minister and Carrie Symonds on the happy arrival of their beautiful son Wilfred.
‘We are honoured and humbled to have been recognised in this way, and we give our thanks to the incredible team of professionals who we work with at Guy’s at St Thomas’ and who ensure every patient receives the best care.
‘We wish the new family every health and happiness.’
There was also a message of congraulations from the University College Hospital, where Wilfred was born.
UCLH chief executive Professor Marcel Levi said: ‘Congratulations to Carrie Symonds and Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the birth of their son. We wish them every happiness at this special time.
‘I would like to thank the teams who cared for Carrie and her baby. They are an incredibly skilled, dedicated and compassionate group of professionals who put patients at the heart of everything they do.
‘I am very proud of them and all our staff at UCLH who are working extremely hard in very difficult circumstances at the moment.’
Downing Street said the Prime Minister, who is back leading the country in its fight against the Covid-19 crisis, would plough on with his duties and take a ‘short period’ of paternity leave later in the year.
The new family are planning to live in their Downing Street flat along with their dog Dilyn, the Number 10 spokesman confirmed earlier this week.
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.
Osman Wilfred Kemal: Boris’s half-Turkish grandfather who gave his family the name Johnson
Osman Wilfred Kemal, Boris’s grandfather, who later changed his name to Wilfred Johnson
The baby’s first name is a tribute to Mr Johnson’s paternal grandfather, Osman Wilfred Kemal.
Mr Kemal was the father of Stanley Johnson, whose former wife Charlotte gave birth to Boris in 1964.
It is through Wilfred Kemal, who changed the family name to Johnson, that Boris gets his Turkish heritage.
Johnson had been his maternal grandmother’s maiden name.
Mr Kemal’s own father, Ali Kemal, was an interior minister of the Ottoman Empire.
He was lynched and stoned to death by a mob during the 1922 Turkish War of Independence.
Both his son and daughter moved to southern England, where Osman would drop his first name in favour of his second name, Wilfred.
Wilfred Johnson later married Irene Williams, who according to an episode of BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? was the constant subject of jokes from the family due to her grandiose claims of an aristocratic French background.
On the show, it was revealed through Wilfred’s birth certificate that his mother had died during childbirth.
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.
It is also just over two weeks since the PM was discharged from intensive care where he had been battling coronavirus. Miss Symonds also suffered symptoms of the disease.
Miss Symonds has been back living with Mr Johnson at Number 11 Downing Street as the Prime Minister leads the Government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
She had previously been self-isolating in Camberwell, South London, with the couple’s dog Dilyn, after suffering from symptoms of coronavirus.
The 32-year-old former government adviser then joined Mr Johnson at the PM’s country home of Chequers in Buckinghamshire while he recovered from the virus.
Mr Johnson returned to work on Monday after being photographed back at Downing Street on Sunday evening.
If it was a full-term pregnancy of 40 weeks, conception would have taken place last July, around the time Mr Johnson took over from Theresa May as prime minister.
Boris already has four children with second wife Marina, Lara Lettice, 26, Milo Arthur, 24, Cassia Peaches, 22, and Theodore Apollo, 20. He also has a fifth child, Stephanie Macintyre, 11, after an affair with art consultant Helen Macintyre with a sixth child from another affair also rumoured.
The acrimonious split with Marina has caused tension between Mr Johnson and his children, who he asked to meet in person in February to tell them he was engaged to Carrie and they were having a baby.
But not all of his children reportedly turned up for their father’s announcement and are said to be ‘furious’ because they believe Carrie and Boris got together after an affair.
Lara reportedly branded her father a ‘selfish b******’ after his split with her mother.
Mr Johnson, 55, and Ms Symonds announced in late February that they were expecting a baby in ‘early summer’, and that they had become engaged at the end of last year.
Carrie and Boris first met in 2012 when he was Mayor of London and she worked for the Tory party.
Mr Johnson, like his newborn son, was born with a full head of hair. Wilfred was born just over two weeks after Mr Johnson was discharged from intensive care
While Mr Johnson, already a father of five, and Miss Symonds will no doubt want to put their own stamp on parenting as a Prime Minister, there are certainly lessons that can be learned from their predecessors. Pictured, the couple outside Downing Street in December 2019
There were whispers of a close relationship in 2018 after they were seen speaking flirtatiously outside a Tory party ball. Later that year Boris was thrown out by his wife Marina and said in a statement they were divorcing and had ‘separated some time ago’.
Six months later their relationship was confirmed after they were seen holidaying together in Italy.
Carrie’s tribute to NHS heroes who ‘saved Boris’s life’
Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds have named their son Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, in a tribute to their grandfathers and the doctors who helped save the Prime Minister’s life.
The third name is a reference to Dr Nick Price and Dr Nick Hart, who Ms Symonds referred to as ‘the two doctors that saved Boris’ life last month’.
Nicholas Price graduated from University of Birmingham’s medical school in 1991.
He has specialist training in infectious diseases, general medicine tuberculosis, tropical medicine and infection prevention and control.
He was previously awarded a MRC Clinical Training Fellowship for research into tuberculosis at The Hammersmith Hospital.
Dr Price became a consultant at Guy’s and St Thomas’ in 2005.
In 2009, he was promoted to the Trust’s Director of Infection and joint Director of Infection Prevention and Control.
Nicholas Hart graduated from University of London’s medical school in 1993.
His area of expertise include weaning, rehabilitation and home mechanical ventilation in patients with chronic respiratory failure.
He has been awarded nine Local Clinical Excellence Award points.
Dr Hart became the director of the Lane Fox Respiratory Service, the largest rehabilitation and home ventilation service in the UK, in 2012.
He is also a Professor at King’s College London and Director of Research and Development Delivery at Guy’s and St Thomas’.
Source: NHS
When Mr Johnson and former Tory Party head of press Miss Symonds fell in love, many were sceptical that it could last.
The cynics appeared to have been proved right when they were overheard having a spectacular domestic spat in their London house early in their relationship that saw the police called.
Their well-publicised plate-smashing row was recorded by neighbours who claimed she yelled ‘get off me’ and ‘get out of my flat’ in Camberwell, south London last year.
But they have proved the doubters wrong. Despite not being married, they negotiated tricky moments like visiting the Queen at Balmoral as an unmarried couple, with great dignity.
Miss Symonds proved a great asset to Mr Johnson in the election campaign. She curbed her love of the limelight and made sure he was the centre of attention.
Within weeks of becoming Prime Minister she became pregnant. Mr Johnson was heavily criticised soon into his premiership when many parts of Britain were badly flooded and he failed to visit them.
At the time he was staying with Miss Symonds at the Foreign Secretary’s official residence, Chevening in Kent, while repairs were being carried out at Chequers.
Mr Johnson fell in love with Chequers in his days as Foreign Secretary in Theresa May’s government.
But Mr Johnson’s political rivals lined up to brand the engagement announcement a distraction ploy as Britain suffered severe floods.
The birth of their first child comes after a rollercoaster month where Boris almost died from coronavirus and his fiancee also started showing symptoms.
On March 27 – the day Boris tested positive for coronavirus – Carrie shared a photograph of herself self-isolating with their dog Dilyn at the £1.3million Camberwell house she bought with Mr Johnson last year.
On April 5, Mr Johnson, 55, was rushed into ICU at St Thomas’ Hospital in central London with breathing difficulties and his partner was not allowed to be by his side because of her pregnancy and a blanket ban on visitors.
They have been together since he was discharged.
Carrie was brought up by her mother Josephine, who is now 71, in East Sheen, South-West London and attended the private £20,000-a-year Godolphin & Latymer School.
Her father Matthew, a founder of the Independent newspaper, lived in a large property not far away in Twickenham with his wife, Alison, with whom he has three children.
Matthew had an affair with Josephine, who was a lawyer on the paper — and Carrie is the product of that affair, born in 1988.