Moris’ mother Teresa and brother Adrian attended the wedding, along with Assange’s father John Shipton and brother Gabriel Shipton.
Stella Moris arrives with her sons Gabriel and Max, in kilts, and her mother to marry her partner, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.Credit:AP
Assange and Moris’ two sons Gabriel, 4, and Max, 3, also attended wearing matching purple and mustard kilts. Assange and Moris became engaged in 2017 but kept their relationship and the birth of their sons secret until April 2020.
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Assange has been behind bars since April 2019, when he was thrown out of the Ecuadorian embassy where he had been living after seeking asylum to avoid being extradited to Sweden to face rape allegations made by two women.
The pair began their relationship in 2015. South African-born Moris was in his legal team to help fight his extradition to Sweden. Swedish authorities dropped the investigation in 2019.
Moris told this masthead in September 2020 that she planned to marry Assange at Belmarsh that Christmas, but their wedding plans were repeatedly delayed by the pandemic and as they fought for permission from the prison governor to hold the ceremony.
While permission was eventually granted, they were not allowed to take any photographs of their ceremony.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “All weddings in prisons must meet the requirements outlined in the prison service policy”.
Governors can refuse permission for photography if they believe the images will be publicly shared.
The bride wore a couture corseted coat dress in lilac duchess satin designed by Vivienne Westwood, one of many celebrities who support Assange.
Stella Moris is photographed in her Vivienne Westwood dress, with her sons Max, 3, and Gabriel, 4, before driving to Belmarsh Prison to marry Assange.Credit:AP
Assange wore a Westwood-designed waistcoat jacket and, in honour of his Scottish ancestry, a kilt made from Culloden Ancient tartan – the same worn by their two sons.
Dame Westwood said the Australian was imprisoned unfairly.
“We are a global war economy and the authorities have held and trapped Julian by laws which have avoided all due process,” Westwood said.
“To me, Julian is a pure soul and a freedom fighter.”
Moris’ tulle veil was embroidered with messages from the couple’s friends and families with words that included “valiant”, “faith” and “free enduring love”.
A rose was sewn into the bodice so that the bride could have a fresh flower at her ceremony. Prison rules forbade her from taking in any items including her bouquet which contained fresh eucalyptus.
It is Assange’s second marriage.
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