Osborne marries amid mystery email and confetti
Around 200 people, including a string of well-known politicians and journalists, have attended the wedding of George Osborne to his long-term partner amid a mystery over an email apparently sent to guests.
The former chancellor of the Exchequer, 52, married his former aide, 40-year-old Thea Rogers at the 14th Century St Mary’s Church in the Somerset village of Bruton, where they own a property.
Among the guests attending the service were former prime minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha, former chancellor Sajid Javid and Levelling-Up Secretary Michael Gove.
Also present were Lord Hague and his wife Ffion, former health secretary Matt Hancock, ex-governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney, and Labour heavyweight Ed Balls with his wife Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary.
As well as politicians there were a host of well-known journalists.
They included Today Programme host Nick Robinson, former Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis, ex-BBC correspondent Jon Sopel, former Sky News political editor Adam Boulton with his wife Anji Hunter, an adviser in Downing Street under Sir Tony Blair, and Mariella Frostrup.
Mr Osborne was not seen arriving at the church ahead of the service, but Ms Rogers walked through the churchyard to claps from well-wishers.
The service, which lasted nearly an hour, included music from Beethoven’s Ode To Joy and Hubert Parry’s Jerusalem.
After the smiling couple, who have two children together, emerged from the church as the bells rang, a smartly dressed woman showered them with orange confetti from a Union flag paper bag.
Mr Osborne looked behind him as she approached the couple before throwing the confetti over the groom.
The grey-haired woman, in a floral dress and pale coloured jacket, emptied the bag of confetti near the couple before she left after being spoken to by two men.
The couple looked puzzled, but did not appear to speak to the woman, who fled quickly when approached by journalists.
The orange confetti appeared to be similar to that scattered by Just Stop Oil protesters at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
As guests left the church, they lined up outside to cheer and throw confetti at the newly married couple as they walked down the path to their wedding car.
The couple’s wedding comes amid a riddle over an email sent earlier this week to many of the invited wedding guests as well as some journalists.
After quitting the House of Commons, Mr Osborne became editor of the Evening Standard newspaper.
The town of Bruton has been dubbed “the Notting Hill of the West” due to the number of celebrities living there.
Published: by Radio NewsHub