Australian PM Anthony Albanese weds Jodie Haydon in quiet Canberra ceremony

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese married his partner Jodie Haydon on Saturday, becoming the first sitting Australian leader to wed while in office. The couple exchanged vows at The Lodge, the prime minister’s official residence in Canberra, a day after Parliament wrapped up its final sitting of the year.

“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 said in a statement following the ceremony.

The wedding, planned quietly due to security considerations, was attended by Haydon’s parents and Albanese’s son from his previous marriage. The prime minister’s dog, Toto, served as the ring bearer. As the newlyweds walked down the aisle, Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” played, with guests showering them in confetti.

Several cabinet ministers were present at the ceremony, while the reception featured the couple’s first dance to Frank Sinatra’s “The Way You Look Tonight.” A personalised touch appeared in the form of custom-made beer cans printed with the same image used for their engagement announcement.

Albanese, 62, and Haydon, 47, got engaged on Valentine’s Day last year—also making Albanese the first sitting prime minister to get engaged in office. His proposal, like the reception, took place at The Lodge.

The couple met at a business dinner in Melbourne in 2020, when Albanese was Opposition Leader.

Since then, Haydon has appeared alongside him during the 2022 and 2025 federal election campaigns and at international events, including Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and a state dinner hosted by then-US President Joe Biden.

The couple will spend their honeymoon within Australia next week, on a schedule scaled back after Albanese’s re-election in May.

In their earlier engagement announcement, the pair said they were “so lucky to have found each other.”

While Anthony Albanese has made Australian history as the first sitting prime minister to marry in office, he joins a small but notable group of world leaders who tied the knot while holding power.

The most frequently cited example is UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who married Carrie Symonds in May 2021 during his premiership, becoming the first British PM in nearly two centuries to wed in office. In Africa, South African President Nelson Mandela married Graça Machel on his 80th birthday in 1998, while serving as president.

Earlier, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni reportedly formalised his marriage during his tenure in the early 2000s.

In Europe, Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt held office while continuing her longstanding marriage, but historical precedents go further back — including leaders of monarchies who routinely married while reigning.

Albanese’s wedding, therefore, places him among a rare global cohort of democratic elected heads who married during their term.