WELLINGTON: After nearly five years of engagement and a delay due to the coronavirus pandemic, former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has married Clarke Gayford in a private ceremony Saturday, western media reported.
The details of the occasion were not disclosed by the couple, but it’s rumored that the ceremony took place at an opulent vineyard in the picturesque Hawke’s Bay region, situated 325 kilometers (200 miles) away from New Zealand’s capital, Wellington.
The exclusive guest list reportedly comprised only family, close friends, and a select few of the 43-year-old Ardern’s former parliamentary associates, with invitations extended to Ardern’s successor and former prime minister, Chris Hipkins.
Jacinda Ardern Ties Knot After Years of Delays
Ardern and Gayford, 47, are said to have initiated their friendship in 2014 and became engaged five years later. However, owing to the COVID-19 restrictions imposed by Ardern’s government, limiting gatherings to 100 people, the marriage originally planned for the southern hemisphere summer of 2022 had to be deferred.
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Reflecting on their decision to postpone the wedding, Ardern remarked, “Such is life. I am no different from, challenge I say, thousands of other New Zealanders.”
Assuming leadership at the age of 37 in 2017, Ardern swiftly rose to become a global symbol of progressive standards. She garnered praise worldwide for her adept handling of the nation’s worst-ever mass shooting and the initial phases of the coronavirus pandemic.
Under Ardern’s governance, New Zealand implemented some of the most stringent coronavirus mandates globally, prompting numerous rallies during her final year as prime minister. However, this strict approach also brought forth a level of hostility from certain quarters unprecedented in the country’s political history.
