Queen congratulates Boris Johnson on new son hours before weekly audience

Rebecca Taylor
·Royal Correspondent
Updated ·2 min read
LONDON, March 10, 2020 -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson R and his partner Carrie Symonds leave the Westminster Abbey after attending the annual Commonwealth Service on Commonwealth Day in London, Britain, March 9, 2020. (Photo by Ray Tang/Xinhua via Getty) (Xinhua/Han Yan via Getty Images)
Carrie Symonds was last seen with Boris Johnson at the Commonwealth Day service. (Getty Images)

The Queen has sent a private message congratulating the prime minister and his fiancée on the arrival of their baby son.

The monarch sent the message just hours before she and Boris Johnson will have their weekly audience.

The audiences were not held while the prime minister was in hospital, but the pair resumed the weekly talks when he was recovering at Chequers.

Although he missed Prime Minister’s Questions, the call, with the Queen in Windsor Castle, is planned for Wednesday evening.

Johnson will postpone his paternity leave until later in the year as the country battles the coronavirus pandemic.

Carrie Symonds announced she and the prime minister were expecting a baby in February and she said she was due in “early summer”.

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 25: Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the telephone to Queen Elizabeth II for her Weekly Audience during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic at 10 Downing Street on March 25, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Andrew Parsons-WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Boris Johnson on the telephone to the Queen for her weekly audience during the coronavirus pandemic. (Getty Images)
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his fiancee partner Carrie Symonds talks with British boxer Anthony Joshua as she leaves after attending the annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in London on March 09, 2020. - Britain's Queen Elizabeth II has been the Head of the Commonwealth throughout her reign. Organised by the Royal Commonwealth Society, the Service is the largest annual inter-faith gathering in the United Kingdom. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / POOL / AFP) (Photo by BEN STANSALL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds meet Anthony Joshua at the Commonwealth Day Service. (Getty Images)

Read more: Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds welcome baby boy

Number 10 announced the birth of their son on Wednesday morning, and said both mother and son were “doing very well”.

“The prime minister and Ms Symonds are thrilled to announce the birth of a healthy baby boy at a London hospital earlier this morning. Both mother and baby are doing very well,” the spokeswoman said.

“The PM and Ms Symonds would like to thank the fantastic NHS maternity team.”

It is understood Johnson was present throughout the birth.

The weight and other details of the baby have not yet been released.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson sit together at Buckingham Palace in central London on December 3, 2019, as leaders of Nato alliance countries, and its secretary general, join Queen Elizabeth II and the Prince of Wales for a group picture to mark 70 years of the alliance ahead of the NATO alliance summit. - NATO leaders gather Tuesday for a summit to mark the alliance's 70th anniversary but with leaders feuding and name-calling over money and strategy, the mood is far from festive. (Photo by Yui Mok / POOL / AFP) (Photo by YUI MOK/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Boris Johnson with the Queen and Jens Stoltenberg at the Nato summit. (Getty Images)

Read more: Queen to give second televised address in pandemic as she marks VE Day anniversary

Symonds, 32, accompanied Johnson, 55, to the Commonwealth Day Service at the beginning of March, one of the Queen’s most important events of the year.

She was understood to then be self-isolating, and at the beginning of April confirmed she’d had some symptoms of coronavirus but was recovering.

The Queen also sent a message to the prime minister when he was admitted to hospital – the same evening as her royal message was broadcast on television.

Johnson returned to work at Number 10 on Monday.

Johnson is the 14th prime minister to hold office during the Queen’s reign.