UK PM Boris Johnson, wife Carrie expecting second baby

London, Jul 31 (PTI) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie Johnson are expecting their second baby by the end of this year, she announced on social media on Saturday.

In the Instagram post, Carrie – who married Boris at a ceremony in London two months ago – also revealed that she had a miscarriage earlier this year. The couple are parents to one-year-old baby boy Wilfred, who was born in April last year.

“Hoping for our rainbow baby this Christmas,” reads Carrie's post.

"At the beginning of the year, I had a miscarriage which left me heartbroken. I feel incredibly blessed to be pregnant again but I've also felt like a bag of nerves," she said.

“Fertility issues can be really hard for many people, particularly when on platforms like Instagram it can look like everything is only ever going well. I found it a real comfort to hear from people who had also experienced loss so I hope that in some very small way sharing this might help others too," she added.

A “rainbow baby” refers to a child born after a miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death. The Instagram post is accompanied by a picture of a blue buggy Christmas decoration.

Boris, 57, tied the knot with 33-year-old Carrie Johnson, previously Carrie Symonds, at a small ceremony at Westminster Cathedral in May. It was Boris' third marriage, after a divorce from Indian-origin ex-wife Marina Wheeler with whom he has four children. He did not have any children with his first wife Allegra Mostyn-Owen.

Carrie, a communications executive and conservationist, has previously used Instagram to announce the name of their first-born Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, with the name Nicholas chosen in a nod to the two doctors who saved the UK PM’s life when he had COVID-19 just before the birth last year.

Wilfred was the fourth child born to a sitting British PM in 170 years. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair's wife Cherie gave birth to son Leo in May 2000, three years after her husband's first election victory, and David Cameron and wife Samantha brought daughter Florence to Downing Street in 2010. Before that, Lord John Russell, who was Prime Minister in the 19th century, fathered a child while in office. PTI AK AMS