The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has married his partner, Jodie Haydon, in Canberra, making him the first Australian leader to tie the knot in office.
The ceremony took place on Saturday afternoon at Albanese’s official residence, the Lodge, witnessed 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.
The couple were married by a celebrant from the NSW Central Coast and wrote their own vows. Haydon was walked down the aisle by her parents, to the Ben Folds song “The Luckiest.”
The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon sign the marriage certificate with celebrant Bree. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Haydon wore a dress by Sydney designer Romance was Born, while the prime minister’s suit was from MJ Bale. The wedding rings were from Cerrone Jewellers in Leichhardt, Sydney.
Haydon’s five-year-old niece Ella was the flower girl and the Albanese’s dog Toto was the ring bearer. The witnesses were Haydon’s brother Patrick and Albanese’s cousin Helen Golden.
After the ceremony, the couple walked 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 honeymoon in Australia next week.
Details of the wedding have been tightly guarded by the Labor leader’s office. The costs are being paid privately by the couple. It comes after the final sitting day of the Australian parliament for 2025 on Friday, and six months on from Albanese’s landslide re-election victory.
Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Guests included the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and his wife, Laura, the foreign minister, Penny Wong, the finance minister, Katy Gallagher and the ALP national secretary, Paul Erickson.
The prime minister’s chief of staff, Tim Gartrell, was also there
The couple first met at a public function in Melbourne more than five years ago.
Albanese proposed to Haydon on the balcony at the Lodge on Valentine’s Day in February 2024, after dinner at a popular Canberra restaurant. He designed a bespoke engagement ring for the occasion.
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Haydon has regularly accompanied Albanese at public events, on official travel overseas and during election campaigns.
Anthony Albanese with his son Nathan and ringbearer Toto before the ceremony. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
More media shy than some politicians’ partners, she has taken on some of the traditional roles of the prime minister’s spouse, including as chief patron of the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.
Albanese split from his former wife, the former New South Wales deputy premier Carmel Tebbutt, in 2019. The couple were married for nearly two decades.
Haydon works for the NSW Public Service Association and has previously held roles in the superannuation sector. She was born to school teacher parents in Bankstown, Sydney, but grew up on the Central Coast.
The couple met when Haydon yelled “Up the Rabbitohs” while Albanese was speaking at an event in Melbourne in 2019, a reference to his beloved South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league team.
She introduced herself to the then opposition leader, before the couple connected on social media.
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Flower girl Ella and Toto. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
“I slid into his DMs,” she told an interviewer. “He had a public profile and I didn’t, so I knew that we both followed the same footy team, we both had a love for the inner west and I think I said in that direct message ‘hey, we’re both single’.”
Their early relationship coincided with Covid-19 disruptions in Australia.
Haydon has praised Albanese for his “compassion and kindness”.
“He respects me being independent but also he is kind and thoughtful,” she said before the election.
Albanese said this month the pair have not had time to practice their first dance for the wedding reception.
“It’ll be lovely,” he said. “It’ll just be a chance for us to express our love and spending the rest of our lives together in front of family and friends.”
Albanese has previously spoken about his love of living at the Lodge, constructed in 1927 as a temporary home for the Australian prime minister.
Albanese and Haydon speak to the media outside the Lodge after their engagement. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Designed by Melbourne architects Oakley and Parkes, the colonial revival-style residence underwent a major restoration, completed in 2019.
It features large gardens and reception rooms, and has been home to all but a few of Albanese’s predecessor prime ministers. Monarchs, presidents and celebrities have all been hosted at the home.
There was a significant security presence in place for the wedding and other recent functions hosted by Albanese in Canberra due to threats against his safety.
He told parliament that members of his Australian federal police safety detail had a larger than usual presence at a Christmas event for the Canberra press gallery this week.
“The truth is that there have been a number of arrests in recent times, including multiple arrests associated with my safety,” he said.
