New Zealand's former prime minister Jacinda Ardern privately married her long-time partner Clarke Gayford on Saturday, finally tying the knot after the ceremony was cancelled due to the country's strict Covid-19 restrictions she imposed.

Former PM Jacinda Ardern, 43, and Gayford, 47, got engaged in May 2019 and had planned to marry in early 2022, but New Zealand's "go hard, go early" approach to tackling the pandemic meant the ceremony was cancelled to avoid maximum deaths from the virus.

As prime minister from 2017 until January last year, she became a global symbol of left-wing politics and women in leadership. Ardern is one of only two women to have a child as a national leader, and has taken her daughter to United Nations meetings.

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A spokeswoman for Ardern said in an email that the wedding took place at Craggy Range Winery in Hawke's Bay on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, about 310 kilometers (190 miles) north of the capital Wellington.

The wedding's official photo showed a smiling Jacinda Ardern in a white halter-neck dress custom-made by fashion designer Juliette Hogan, while Gayford wore a black suit. According to a report by the news site Stuff, the couple tied the knot in front of about 50 to 75 guests. Among the guests was Ardern's successor, current opposition leader Chris Hipkins, the New Zealand Herald reported.

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Ardern has completed three fellowships at Harvard University in the past six months.

Jacinda Ardern told New Zealand television presenter Gayford in her final speech in parliament: "Let's finally get married."

The couple's daughter Neve is five years old.