Boris Johnson and his wife, Carrie, are expecting their second child, as the prime minister’s wife revealed she had a miscarriage at the start of this year.
The couple, who married in secret at Westminster Cathedral in May, had their son, Wilfred, in April 2020.
Carrie Johnson announced that she is expecting their second child on her Instagram page, saying a miscarriage had left her “heartbroken”.
“I feel incredibly blessed to be pregnant again but I’ve also felt like a bag of nerves. Fertility issues can be really hard for many people, particularly when on platforms like Instagram it can look like everything is only ever going well.
“I found it a real comfort to hear from people who had also experienced loss so I hope that in some very small way sharing this might help others too.”
Carrie, 33, is expecting to give birth in December, she added, posting a photo of a Christmas tree bauble of a pram. “Hoping for our rainbow baby this Christmas,” she said.
The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, congratulated the couple. He tweeted: “Congratulations to Carrie and Boris Johnson on the happy news that they’re expecting another child. I’m very sorry to hear of Carrie’s earlier miscarriage. I’m sure that her speaking out will be of comfort to others. Every best wish to them both.”
Wilfred was born just weeks after the prime minister had left intensive care, where he was treated for Covid-19. One of Wilfred’s middle names, Nicholas, is in tribute to a doctor who treated Johnson.
The prime minister has always refused to say how many children he has in total. Apart from Wilfred, he is believed to be the father of at least five children with two women.
The 57-year-old has four children with his ex-wife Marina Wheeler, whom he married in 1993 and from whom he was divorced in November 2020. He had a daughter with Helen Macintyre, an art consultant, in 2009.
In May, Downing Street said he had paid for all Wilfred’s childcare amid reports that he had approached Conservative party donors for help funding a nanny.
Boris and Carrie Johnson were first linked in early 2019, before he entered No 10. His future wife had been an adviser to John Whittingdale, then culture secretary, and Sajid Javid when he was at the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Carrie Johnson then became head of communications for the Conservative party before leaving in 2018 to work in public relations for conservation charities.
Their baby will join a list of children born to prime ministers while serving in office. Before Wilfred’s birth, David and Samantha Cameron had a daughter, Florence in 2010. A decade earlier, Tony Blair and his wife, Cherie, had welcomed their fourth child, Leo.
