Anthony Albanese ties the knot, becomes first Australian PM to marry while in office

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanesemarried his longtime partner Jodie Haydon on Saturday, becoming the first leader in the country to get married while in office.

The 62-year-old leader got married to the 46-year-old financial services worker at a private ceremony in the garden of his official residence, The Lodge, in Canberra.

“Married”, the prime minister wrote in a one word post on social media, sharing a video of himself in a bow-tie holding the hand of his smiling bride, who was dressed in a long white gown as confetti fell around them.

The ceremony took place more than a year after Albanese proposed on Valentine’s Day 2024, when he said he had found a partner “who I want to spend the rest of my life with”. They wrote their own vows and were married by a celebrant, AFP reported.

Haydon has joined Albanese at many events over the years and was with him during his 2022 election campaign and again in May this year when his Labor party won with a strong majority.

After the ceremony, Albanese and Haydon walked back down the aisle to Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)”. Their first dance was to “The Way You Look Tonight” by Frank Sinatra.

The couple will spend their honeymoon in Australia from Monday until Friday next week, with all costs paid privately by Albanese and Haydon, his office said.

The Australian PM, who divorced his former wife in 2019 and has a son named Nathan, met Haydon more than five years ago at a business dinner in Melbourne.