Carrie Symonds Is Going To Balmoral – But Will She Share A Bedroom With Boris?

Carrie Symonds is going to Balmoral with Boris Johnson, and we're not even pretending we don't care.

Carrie Symonds Is Going To Balmoral - But Will She Share A Bedroom With Boris?

by Rebecca Reid |
Updated on

So picture the scene. Your boyfriend has a swish new job, one that you're not totally sure he's right for, but whatever. He seems happy, and it comes with some plush benefits. Nice house in Central London, free car service, and in the summer you get invited on a trip to stay with his kind-of boss.

Only, in this scenario you're Carrie Symonds, your boyfriend is the Prime Minister, the boss is the Queen and the trip you've been invited on is to Balmoral, her country house in Scotland.

It's a bit like going to stay with your boyfriend's parents, but with the volume turned up to one million, because rather than a nice carvery dinner and looking at baby pictures, you're mingling with actual royalty.

Carrie will be the first unmarried woman to attend Balmoral with a serving PM, so there was quite a bit of speculation about whether or not she would get the call up. But it was reported over the weekend that she will indeed be making the list.

It's not clear whether, as an unmarried couple, Carrie and Boriswill have separate rooms or be sharing, and let's be honest, the likelihood of that information being shared is somewhere between slim and f**k all.

On one hand it's 2019, loads of couples choose not to get married and the Royal Family (love them as we do) aren't all strangers to a bit of extra marital cotius.

On the other hand, it's a bit like going to stay with the entire country's Granny, and who amongst us would actually want to get hot and heavy with our boyfriend with grandma down the hall?

According to royal protocol, unmarried couples who are guests of the Queen at any of her six official residences do not stay overnight, so the problem doesn't arise.

You'd be forgiving for thinking this was the kind of old school rule which hasn't been changed because it hasn't come up, but it apparently applied to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, as they were then, at Christmas 2017 when, ­despite being engaged and invited for Christmas lunch at Sandringham, they didn't stay Chez Granny because they weren't hitched, instead they stayed overnight at the nearby home of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Anmer Hall.

Whatever happens, Carrie won't be the first person to get an amusing story out of her bedroom allocation at Balmoral.

One of the best stories of all time comes from Cherie Blair, who was married to Tony Blair. She claimed that the reason she and her husband ended up having a 'surprise' baby aged 45, was because of the Balmoral trip.

Apparently when you arrive at Balmoral, the staff will unpack for you. Cherie was too embarrassed to put condoms in her suitcase, lest a member of staff doing the unpacking found them distasteful, and so she and Tony chanced it.

Nine months later, the world was introduced to baby Leo. The only thing which could make this story better would be if they'd done a Beckham and named the baby Balmoral Blair.

It's probably quite likely that staff who unpack other people's suitcases for a living are used to finding intimate objects, but in the same token, Carrie might be sensible to spare any potential blushes by leaving any more 'exciting' items at home.

We did call to ask the Buckingham Palace press office whether unmarried couples are allowed to share a bedroom while staying at Balmoral (or any other royal residence). You will be shocked to hear that they were very polite, but did not comment.

Honestly, between Boris and Carrie's trip, and the alleged cold warbetween William and Harry, Balmoral sounds more drama filled than Love Island. Any chance we can get a live feed and a Geordie voice over?

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