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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This story has been corrected to remove the reference to Russell Crowe attending.
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)
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)
ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV met with Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado in a private audience at the Vatican on Monday.
The meeting, which hadn’t been previously included in the list of Leo’s planned appointments, was later listed by the Vatican in its daily bulletin, without adding details.
Machado is touring Europe and the United States after she reemerged in December after 11 months in hiding to accept her Nobel Peace Prize in Norway.
Pope Leo, the first American pontiff, has called for Venezuela to remain an independent country after U.S. forces captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from his compound in Caracas and flew him to New York to face federal charges of drug-trafficking.
Leo had said he was following the developments in Venezuela with “deep concern,” and urged the protection of human and civil rights in the Latin American country.
Venezuela’s opposition, backed by consecutive Republican and Democratic administrations in the U.S., had vowed for years to immediately replace Maduro with one of their own and restore democracy to the oil-rich country. But U.S. President Donald Trump delivered them a heavy blow by allowing Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, to assume control.
Meanwhile, most opposition leaders, including Machado, are in exile or prison.
After winning the 2025 Nobel Prize for Peace, Machado said she’d like to give it to or share with Trump.
Machado dedicated the prize to Trump, along with the people of Venezuela, shortly after it was announced. Trump has coveted and openly campaigned for winning the Nobel Prize himself since his return to office in January 2025.
The organization that oversees the Nobel Peace Prize — the Norwegian Nobel Institute — said, however, that once it's announced, the prize can’t be revoked, transferred or shared with others.
“The decision is final and stands for all time,” it said in a short statement last week.
This image released by Vatican Media shows Pope Leo XIV meeting with Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado of Venezuela, right, inside his private library at the Vatican, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Vatican Media via AP, HO)
This image released by Vatican Media shows Pope Leo XIV meeting with Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado of Venezuela, right, inside his private library at the Vatican, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Vatican Media via AP, HO)
This image released by Vatican Media shows Pope Leo XIV meeting with Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado of Venezuela, right, inside his private library at the Vatican, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Vatican Media via AP, HO)
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)
