Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, marries partner Jodie Haydon | Anthony Albanese

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese married his partner Jodie Haydon in Canberra, making him the first Australian leader to marry into office.

The ceremony took place on Saturday afternoon at Albanese’s official residence, the Lodge, and was attended by a small group of close family and friends, including Albanese’s son Nathan and Haydon’s parents Bill and Pauline.

“We are absolutely delighted to share our love and commitment to spending our future lives together in front of our family and closest friends,” Albanese and Haydon said in a statement. he said.

The couple were married by a celebrant from the NSW Central Coast and wrote their own vows. Haydon was walked down the aisle by his parents to the tune of “The Luckiest” by Ben Folds.

Haydon wore a dress by Sydney designer Romance is Born, while the prime minister’s suit was from MJ Bale. Their wedding rings were from Cerrone Jewelers in Leichhardt, Sydney.

Haydon’s five-year-old niece Ella was the flower girl and Albanese’s dog Toto was the ring bearer. The witnesses were Haydon’s brother Patrick and Albanese’s cousin Helen Golden.

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

Details of the wedding are being closely guarded by the Labor leader’s office. The expenses are paid privately by the couple. This comes after the Australian parliament’s final session in 2025 on Friday and six months after Albanese left parliament. landslide reelection victory.

Guests included treasurer Jim Chalmers and his wife Laura, foreign secretary Penny Wong, finance minister Katy Gallagher and ALP national secretary Paul Erickson.

Prime Minister’s private secretary Tim Gartrell was also there

The couple first met at a public event in Melbourne more than five years ago.

Albanese proposed to Haydon on the Lodge’s balcony following dinner at a popular Canberra restaurant on Valentine’s Day in February 2024. She designed a special engagement ring for this special day.

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Haydon regularly accompanied Albanese to public events, official trips abroad and during election campaigns.

More shy than some politicians’ partners in the media, she took on some of the traditional roles of the prime minister’s wife, including being chief patron of the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.

Albanese separated from his ex-wife, former New South Wales deputy premier Carmel Tebbutt, in 2019. The couple had been married for nearly twenty years.

Haydon works for the Public Service Association of NSW and has previously held roles in the superannuation sector. He was born in Bankstown, Sydney, into a family of teachers, but grew up on the Central Coast.

The couple met when Albanese was speaking at an event in Melbourne in 2019 when Haydon shouted “Rabbits Up”, a reference to his beloved South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league team.

He introduced himself to the then opposition leader before the pair connected via social media.

“I slid into his DMs,” he told an interviewer. “He had a public profile but I didn’t, so I knew we both followed the same football team, we were both in love with the inner west, and I think in that direct message I said ‘hey, we’re both single’.”

Their first relationship coincided with the Covid-19 disruptions in Australia.

Haydon praised Albanese for his “compassion and kindness”.

“He respects me for being independent, but he’s also kind and thoughtful,” she said before the election.

Albanese said he did not have time to rehearse the first dance for the couple’s wedding ceremony this month.

“It will be beautiful,” he said. “This will be a chance for us to express our love and spend the rest of our lives together in front of our family and friends.”

Albanese has previously spoken of how he loved living at the Lodge, which was built in 1927 as the temporary home of the Australian prime minister.

Designed by Melbourne architects Oakley and Parkes, the colonial revival-style residence underwent a major restoration completed in 2019.

Featuring extensive gardens and reception rooms, it has been home to all but a few of Albanese’s previous prime ministers. Monarchs, presidents and celebrities have all been hosted at the house.

There was a significant security presence for the wedding and other recent events Albanese hosted in Canberra due to threats to his safety.

Members of Australia’s federal police security service were present in larger numbers than usual at a Christmas event for the Canberra press gallery this week, he told parliament.

“The truth is that there have been a number of arrests recently, including several arrests related to my safety,” he said.