CELEBRITY NEWSMAKERS

Australian prime minister Albanese becomes the first ever to marry in office

ROD McGUIRK
Sat, November 29, 2025 

AP


Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, left, and Jodie Haydon smile after getting married in Canberra, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025.(Mike Bowers/Pool Photo via AP)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, center left, and Jodie Haydon, center right, are showered with confetti after getting married in Canberra, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025.(Mike Bowers/Pool Photo via AP)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese married his partner Jodie Haydon in a secretive and intimate ceremony on Saturday at his official residence in the national capital, Canberra.

Albanese is the first prime minister to marry while in office in the 124-year history of the Australian federal government.

The couple were married by a civil celebrant before around 60 guests, including several cabinet ministers, in an afternoon ceremony on the grounds of The Lodge. There was no media reporting of the event until after it had occurred.

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

The pair wrote their own vows and their dog Toto was the ring bearer. Haydon’s 5-year-old niece Ella was the flower girl, the statement said.

Albanese, 62, who is divorced with an adult son, proposed to Haydon, 46, at The Lodge on Valentine’s Day last year. They initially planned a larger-scale wedding before the last election was scheduled to be held in May this year. Albanese had told a Sydney radio program he was considering inviting former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whom he considered a personal friend.

But the ruling center-left Labor Party strategists feared a lavish wedding during a cost of living crisis could hurt the government’s chances of being re-elected for a second three-year term.

A decision was made to delay the wedding until after the election. Albanese had said the wedding would take place in 2025, but did not reveal a date.

The wedding came two days after Parliament ended for the year on Thursday.

Haydon, who works in finance, met Albanese at a business dinner in Melbourne in 2020.

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Cory Booker marries Alexis Lewis in private ceremonies in NJ, Washington

Deena Yellin, 

NorthJersey.com
Sun, November 30, 2025

Sen. Cory Booker is officially off the market.

The 56-year-old senior senator from New Jersey tied the knot last week with two private ceremonies.

Booker and Alexis Lewis married in a courthouse ceremony on Nov. 24 officiated by Judge Julien Xavier Neals of the United State District Court of the District of New Jersey. The couple served pastries from Calandra's Bakery, as well as a vegan chocolate chip cookie dough cake from Papa Ganache Project in Matawan, New Jersey, Booker's office confirmed.

On Saturday, the couple held a private interfaith wedding ceremony in Washington. The wedding, first reported by The New York Times, was attended by family only and officiated by Booker's pastor of 30 years, Rev. Dr. David Jefferson of Newark's Metropolitan Baptist Church, as well as his longtime friend, Rabbi Matthew Gewirtz of Temple B'nai Jeshurun in Short Hills.

Sen. Cory Booker and Alexis Lewis were married in two private ceremonies in late November 2025.

"We said 'I do' in two places that shaped us — Cory's beloved Newark and Alexis's hometown of Washington, D.C. — first at the courthouse, then with our families. Hearts full and so grateful," Booker posted to Facebook on Sunday, Nov. 30.

Lewis, 38, is Jewish, while Booker is Christian.

The couple were married under a chuppah, a Jewish wedding tradition, and beneath photos of the couple's grandparents and deceased ancestors. The band played Mariah Carey's "Emotions" as they broke the glass.

"Our wedding has mirrored our relationship — magical, meaningful, and strengthened by the extraordinary support of our friends and family," said Booker, who serves as chairman of the Senate Democratic Strategic Communications Committee. "Alexis and I feel truly blessed to begin this new chapter surrounded by so much love."
Lewis is a real estate investment professional

The pair were introduced by a mutual friend in May of 2024 known for his matchmaking prowess.

Lewis, a real estate investment professional and native of Washington, was then living in Los Angeles. During a visit to her family in Washington, the friend urged the pair to meet for a blind date.

Their meeting lasted over five hours. Booker asked her to see him again the next night but she turned him down — she had a work meeting in Newark and had to fly out the next day.

But the former Newark mayor, who is known for his impassioned speeches, convinced her to change her flight so that they could see each other again. "The second date was even more magical," the couple reported.

They enjoyed dinner at Mompou in Newark, saw the Broadway show "Suffs" in New York City and ended the night with a romantic stroll through Newark. During the walk, Booker shared the places that had shaped his life, and they had their first kiss outside the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark.

They moved in together in April and fostered a shepherd mix named Cooke. They hope to foster more dogs.

“Early in our relationship, I had a bittersweet moment of grief realizing my father wouldnever get to meet the woman I’m marrying," said Booker.

"But Alexis is exactly the kind of woman my dad would have wanted for me," he said. "I often joke with her that she and my father have so much in common and that he must be smiling — and laughing — in heaven."
Proposal on a Hawaii trip

During a trip to Hawaii on Aug. 24, Booker surprised Alexis by proposing. Although he had convinced her he wasn't going to propose because of work, he created an elaborate moment using Native Hawaiian musicians and a hula dancer.

They performed one of her longtime favorite songs — Mariah Carey's "Dreamlover." Booker got down on a knee and popped the question.

In a social media post after his engagement, Booker called Lewis "one of the greatest unearned blessings of my life," and said that she "has transformed me, helping me to ground and center my inner life."

Before meeting Lewis, Booker had been named one of the Top 40 Bachelors by Town & Country Magazine and had been in a high-profile relationship with actress Rosario Dawson that lasted two years and ended in 2022.

Booker, a Democrat, made history earlier in March with a marathon speech on the Senate floor in which he railed against the Trump administration for more than 25 hours. It was the longest recorded speech ever in the U.S. Senate.

Booker grew up in the leafy New Jersey suburb of Harrington Park and was a standout football player at Old Tappan High School. He won an athletic scholarship to Stanford University and then attended Oxford University in England on a Rhodes scholarship.

Afterward, he attended Yale Law School before moving to Newark. After serving as mayor, he was first elected to the Senate in 2013.

X and other social media on Sunday was filled with well-wishers, including Sen. Andy Kim, who tweeted, "So happy for Cory and Alexis! Whenever I see them together, their love fills the room with joy. Congratulations on the journey of a beautiful life together."

Lewis said her relationship with Booker developed "quickly, intentionally and somehow with ease."

"After so many years on my own, I'm not entirely sure I believed I would get married," she said. "But now, we've found each other at this stage of our lives, after epic personal journeys, and that deserves celebration.

"Joy shared is joy multiplied, and that's how our entire relationship has felt," she said.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ's Sen. Cory Booker marries Alexis Lewis in private ceremony