Carrie Symonds

Her paternal grandfather was John Beavan, Baron Ardwick (at one time editor of the Daily Herald and later, during the 1970s, a Labour Party MEP), and her paternal grandmother was Anne Symonds, a BBC World Service journalist.

Symonds was the result of an affair between her parents, who were both married to other people at the time.

Caroline Louise Beavan Johnson (' Symonds'''; born 17 March 1988) is an English media consultant and is married to former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson.

She is the daughter of Matthew Symonds, co-founder of The Independent.

Symonds worked as a Conservative Party media official and an environmental activist, and remains a senior advisor to the ocean conservation charity Oceana, and is a patron of the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation.

Caroline Louise Beavan Symonds was born on 17 March 1988 to Matthew Symonds, co-founder of The Independent, and Josephine McAfee (née Lawrence), a lawyer working for that newspaper.

She was brought up by her mother in East Sheen, South West London, and between 1999 and 2006 attended Godolphin and Latymer School, a private day school for girls.

Symonds originally planned to become an actor, and unsuccessfully auditioned for the 2007 film Atonement.

She subsequently worked in marketing.

In 2007, aged 19, Symonds was driven home from a King's Road nightclub by taxi-driver John Worboys, who in 2009 was convicted of multiple sexual assaults on his passengers.

She later recalled Worboys offering her champagne and vodka, which she believed was spiked and, after returning home, began "vomiting and laughing hysterically before passing out until 3pm the next day".

Symonds was one of fourteen women who testified against Worboys at his trial.

She subsequently told The Telegraph that he was "a sad, wicked man who is a danger to society. I feel so angry that he pleaded not guilty and made us go through the pain of giving evidence in court".

Symonds was the youngest of Worboys's victims, and waived her anonymity to talk about her experiences and, later, to campaign against his early release, fundraising for a successful judicial review of the decision.

Symonds was previously in a relationship with The Sun journalist Harry Cole.

She went to the University of Warwick to study Art History and Theatre Studies, graduating as BA (Hons) in 2009.

In 2009, Symonds joined the Conservative Party as a press officer.

She worked at Conservative Campaign Headquarters, and later campaigned for Boris Johnson in the 2010 London Conservative Party mayoral selection.

During this period, Symonds had a role running campaigns for the newly elected MP Zac Goldsmith.

She has also worked as a media special adviser for Conservative Cabinet ministers Sajid Javid (Communities, Local Government and Housing Secretary) and John Whittingdale (Culture, Media and Sport Secretary).

Symonds was present when Whittingdale and others launched Conservative Friends of Russia (later called the Westminster Russia Forum and disbanded in March 2022) and has attended several of its meetings.

She began an affair with Johnson, then Foreign Secretary, in 2018 while he was still married to his second wife, Marina Wheeler.

Symonds became the Conservative Party's head of communications in 2018, but left the position later that year, taking up a job in public relations for the Oceana project.

It was reported that she was asked to leave her post as director of communications, with Conservative Party sources in the Daily Mail newspaper claiming that the firing was due to poor performance and allegations of significant unjustified expenses claims.

These accusations were claimed by an anonymous "longtime colleague" to be a smear campaign allegedly spread by Symonds's political strategist, Lynton Crosby (subsequently denied by Crosby).

She is a patron of the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation.

She began an affair with British politician Boris Johnson, then Foreign Secretary, in 2018 while he was still married to his second wife, Marina Wheeler.

In July 2019, Johnson became prime minister and both he and Symonds officially moved into the flat above 11 Downing Street.

She was the first unmarried partner of a prime minister to reside at Downing Street.

In July 2019, Johnson became prime minister and both he and Symonds officially moved into the flat above 11 Downing Street.

She was the first unmarried partner of a prime minister to reside at Downing Street.

The following month, she was barred from entering the United States as her visa application was rejected due to a previous visit with her close friend Nimco Ali to Somaliland, which the US considers to be part of immigration-restricted Somalia.

On 16 August 2019, she made her first public appearance since entering 10 Downing Street, when she addressed what she called the "gigantic" climate crisis.

On 29 February 2020, Symonds and Johnson announced that they had become engaged in late 2019.

Symonds married Johnson in 2021.

On 29 February 2020, Symonds and Boris Johnson announced that they had become engaged in late 2019 and were expecting their first child together in early summer.

Their son, Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, was born on 29 April 2020 in London.

She is a Catholic and had her son baptised into the Catholic Church.

Symonds married Boris Johnson in secrecy on 29 May 2021 in a Catholic ceremony at Westminster Cathedral attended by thirty guests.

She wore a boho-chic style bridal gown by Greek designer Christos Costarellos.