Hugs in briefings & scooting in the halls – what Downing St life for Carrie Symonds & Boris Johnson’s son will be like
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FLORENCE Cameron's Godmother Kate Fall knows only too well what life at Downing Street will be like for new mum Carrie Symonds and Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
As Deputy Chief of Staff for David Cameron when he was Prime Minister, she sat outside his door dealing with matters of national importance... but also comforted his children when they interrupted important meetings.
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She was there when baby Florence Cameron arrived when her dad was in office in 2010, so knows only too well what Carrie, 32, and Boris, 55, are soon set to experience.
The Prime Minister's fiancé, 32, delivered her baby boy at a London hospital today and she will soon be returning to number 11 Downing Street - an apartment designed by previous resident and fellow mum Samantha Cameron.
Like previous PMs, Boris bagsed the apartment, rather than 10 Downing Street, as it's bigger.
And over the years it has seen plenty of baby action after the arrival of Leo Blair to Cherie Blair in 2000 and Florence Cameron to Samantha Cameron in 2010.
Speaking exclusively to Fabulous, Baroness Fall - who has now released a book about her experience in number 10 called The Gatekeeper - told how Carrie and Boris could expect the unexpected now they were parents to a newborn while at Downing Street.
"One of the things that makes working at number 10 so unique is that it is the centre of government and it is also a home," Baroness Fall said.
"There were few more cheerful sights than baby Florence being pushed in her pram for her morning walk in St James’s Park.
"And later, she would scoot past my door with a polka dot helmet every morning on the way to nursery, waving as she went.
"Children definitely lift the mood of the house and everyone enjoyed having them."
"I can remember at least once when the Cameron childcare fell apart and Florence had to join our 8.30am meeting. She sat on my lap, sucking a mint slowly," she laughed.
And even though Downing Street families tend to prefer baby-friendly Chequers, with its massive lawn and heated swimming pool, the central London location is increasingly baby friendly.
Carrie and the new little one can expect to breast or bottle feed at an open plan kitchen in trendy stainless steel.
We've seen SamCam and husband Dave sit there surrounded by toast and Marmite - and can just imagine little Baby Boris, who is believed to have arrived early, toddling around it in a couple of years.
It's perfect for kids as Florence realised - in fact she didn't ever want to leave Downing Street.
We've seen what it looks like before after David Cameron gave us a behind-the-scenes look at his life.
With four rooms one could easily be turned into a nursery, and Carrie and Boris have plenty cash to easily hire a nanny - so it could possibly become nanny quarters?
A back door leads directly into 23-hectare St James' Park - perfect for long pram journeys to get a newborn to sleep once lockdown is over (with appropriate security, naturally).
Baroness Fall told in her book how Florence loved the park.
"Florence was queen of No. 10 for the time she inhabited it," she said.
There were few more cheerful sights than baby Florence being pushed in her pram for her morning walk in St James’s Park.
Baroness Kate Fall
"And she possibly loved it more than any of us – when the moment comes to leave in 2015, Florence tries to attach herself to the railings. We are supposed to make a dignified exit, Samantha explainsed ‘But I don’t want to go,’ said Florence.
"Her popularity grew with her mobility.
"Starting with the custodians, policemen and gardeners who admired her daily trips to St James’s Park, pushed in her pram by Gitta, her devoted nanny.
"It seemed hardly any time before she was propelling herself with speed and dexterity around the carpeted corridors of No. 10 on her pink scooter, with matching helmet, visiting her favourite members of staff, who were noticeably those who had sweets."
Carrie will learn there is even mums' favourite Boots, perfect for nappies and baby wipes, just eight minutes walk away.
But, it isn't all plain sailing, because a government insider said Carrie's life inside Downing Street was actually going to be "weird"- because while the four-bed flat upstairs is private, downstairs is an office where decisions of national importance are made daily.
It was for this reason that Samantha Cameron isolated herself so much in the early months after Florence was born, although David reported his youngest daughter would happily clamber over the whole house - living and working areas.
"It’s fine, but if I were Carrie I would spend as much time as possible out of Downing Street. It’s a workplace. The flat is very private, but you’re living above the shop," a government insider told the .
‘All the security arrangements make it incredibly hard for people to come and go. You are living in a fortress. It’s not normal."
Cameron previously reiterated that, admitting you son't get a lot of freedom being PM - or the PM's significant other.
So Carrie won't be able to pop to local mum groups or soft play.
"There's something about not being able to pop downstairs and get a pint of milk," Cameron previously told The Sun.
The challenge previous PMs with families have faced is separating work life and family life.
John Major even lived apart from Norma and his children while in office.
Cameron was rumoured to end the working day by having a shot of whiskey and watching an episode of Game of Thrones, before heading up to his wife and kids.
Samantha said the normality they maintained was a result of them both having lots of siblings.
Cameron also prided himself on his normality, which his wife, Samantha, attributed to their both having large families.
“We have a lot of focus on being on our own, keeping up with old friends, we’ve got big families. I am one of eight siblings, he’s one of four and I think that keeps you grounded," she told the .
"You’ve got to try and not let your life change in any way,” she said.
Guests in the Cameron Downing Street living room were expected to balance kids on their knees.
“We have a lot of focus on being on our own, keeping up with old friends, we’ve got big families. "I am one of eight siblings, he’s one of four and I think that keeps you grounded. You’ve got to try and not let your life change in any way."
It was a different story for Carol Thatcher who was reportedly hidden in a cupboard when guests visited mum Margaret Thatcher - because she was wearing jeans.
We can't imagine Carrie subjecting Baby Boris to such treatment, not least because since the 1980s' when Thatcher was in power, times inside Downing Street have changed.
In his autobiography, For the Record, Cameron recalled Florence popping out the "shiny black door" and travelling along Downing Street on her scooter to school.
He told how she would be greeted by an armed police office who would, smiling, say: "Hello Flo".
"This is the only world she has ever known," Cameron wrote, adding how the kids would crawl over the cabinet table where top MPs sit.
"[For the children] there was no distinction between home areas and work areas, it was all theirs. It was one giant labyrinth to explore," he explained in his autobiography.
He recalled in one instance how Florence asked the chief of the defence staff: "What are YOU doing in MY house."
The same was true of Leo Blair. He would sleep in his parents' bed for months with Tony waking for him.
And with Boris no stranger to dad-hood, with the newest arrival being his sixth kid, we expect him to do his fair share of night feeds.
Carrie will be pleased to know the stuffy days of silence in Downing Street are long gone.
I can remember at least once when the Cameron childcare fell apart and Florence had to join our 8.30am meeting. She sat on my lap, sucking a mint slowly.
Baroness Kate Fall
Peter Stothard's book Thirty Days, which followed Blair ahead of the Iraq war, also coincided with then-two-year-old Leo's earliest days.
Stothard recalled how as Blair would discuss bringing troops in, Leo would chatter about dinosaurs and nibble on Wagon Wheels.
Meanwhile, Downing Street was decorated with a Thomas the Tank Engine train set and child's drum set.
But if Carrie is worried about the impact growing up in one of Britain's most famous homes will have on her son, she should take heed of Samantha Cameron's comment to : "I was terrified of the impact [life at No10] was going to have on the children.
"It's been much easier than I expected it to be, I go to the same office, the children go to the same school. There's a lot of our life that hasn't changed".
And Cherie Blair said today: "She was much younger than I was, I was 45, she is early 30s. She will get the best care."
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Carrie is said to have given birth weeks early at a London hospital, with Boris by her side, just days after her fought for his life in intensive care. Get the latest on the birth here.
Meanwhile, Boris is back at work already - just hours after Carrie gives birth.
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