Boris Johnson looks ‘haunted and troubled’ without fiancée Carrie Symonds

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Boris Johnson looked ‘haunted and troubled’ without his fiancée Carrie Symonds by his side at the weekend while the ‘tired’ PM’s ‘cockiness’ is now ‘invisible’, a body language expert has claimed.

Yesterday the prime minister, 56, cut a lone figure as he attended a memorial service in Westminster Abbey marking the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. 

While Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was accompanied by his wife Lady Victoria, Boris’ partner Carrie Symonds – who gave birth to their son Wilfred in April – was absent. 

This morning Piers Morgan branded the PM a ‘broken guy’ on Good Morning Britain, adding: ‘He is lonely, he is ill… It would not surprise me if Boris quit, there is no win for him here, everything is a loss and it’s piling up.’

His remarks following a scathing report in The Times on Saturday which claimed Mr Johnson seemed ‘unusually serious — even sombre’ during his public appearances last week.  

Body language guru Judi James told FEMAIL: ‘Once the king of splayed legs and arms, Boris’s cockiness is now invisible. His legs at the Battle of Britain service were less apart than as usual and, with his hands clasped in the fig-leaf position, he looked as though he was protection himself from possible criticism or attack.

‘He performed a truncated self-comfort ritual on arrival, placing one hand in his pocket before removing it in a look of discomfort. 

‘With his crumpled shirt, curled tie collar and wonky tie he looked in complete contrast to the bandbox-fresh Kier Starmer, who walked into the venue next to his wife with an air of energy and determination. 

‘Without Carrie by his side though, Boris’s eye expression above the mask looked haunted and his frown looked troubled.’

While Piers made a call for strong leadership with ‘over-congruent’ gesticulation, Judi claimed Boris has become ‘a very different type of charismatic leader’. 

‘Having suffered illness himself, at the same time as balancing a marital split and a new baby, Boris’s signals are suggesting some kind of a epiphany,’ she deduced.

‘The man whose signature facial expression was a naughty smile and a twinkling eye and who bathed in his high levels of fame and popularity and traded on being liked is now looking like a haunted man. 

‘The new look might not suit Piers Morgan but this new body language “honesty” does at least suggest levels of empathy and a realisation of the responsibilities he is now facing.’

Judi added that while it would be ‘inappropriate and unacceptable’ for Boris to be sporting ‘his usual smug smile or naughty facial expression’, what we have in their place is ‘a look of loneliness and self-protection’. 

‘Boris has been gravely ill and the effects could still be ongoing,’ she went on.

‘Without Carrie by his side or a wing-man to chat to, some of the very natural emotions of the crisis appear to be showing. 

‘Of course he looks tired and less cocky. The question is, will he or should he decide to re-adopt the kind of alpha-swagger and sense of fun that is visible in Donald Trump’s demeanor, or should he show signs of accepting the gravity of the situation he is trying to handle?’   

A senior Conservative who regularly meets with the prime minister told The Times that the PM ‘doesn’t seem to be enjoying being at the helm in rough seas’, adding: ‘This is all weighing very heavily on him. I think you can see it even in some of his public appearances — the sort of misery etched on his face.’ 

Meanwhile a source told the publication that Mr Johnson is missing his ex-wife Marina Wheeler, who was his ‘intellectual match’ and ‘instrumental in the organisation of his life from an intellectual standpoint’.

‘I don’t think it is quite the same relationship with Carrie,’ the source claimed. ‘Carrie does genuinely love him and he loves her. But that’s very different from what came before and the pressures of living in Downing Street with a young baby and partner, however accommodating she might be. It’s still bloody difficult.  

As well as being left ‘exhausted’ by his bout with Covid-19 and recently becoming a father again, friends and colleagues have reportedly expressed concern that Mr Johnson is ‘worried about money’.

Mr Johnson has been through an expensive divorce, still supports four out of six of his children, and saw his earnings drop from around £350,000 to £150,000 after he was forced to drop his newspaper column and public speaking engagements when he became PM. 

Carrie reportedly began an affair with Johnson while he was foreign secretary in 2018 while he was married to Marina – his second wife. 

She gave birth to their son in London on April 29 with the Prime Minister at her side, days after he himself had been released from medical care following a lengthy battle with coronavirus. 

In a heart-warming Instagram post revealing the boy’s name, Carrie said that the middle name Nicholas was a tribute to two NHS doctors, Dr Nick Price and Dr Nick Hart, who ‘saved Boris’ life last month’ following his battle with coronavirus.

The first name is a tribute to the PM’s paternal grandfather, Osman Wilfred Kemal, and Lawrie a reference to Carrie’s grandfather.

Last week Ms Symonds revealed she will be judging a virtual lip sync battle hosted by the Conservatives LGBT+ wing.

She said she was ‘looking forward’ to judging the event, which is part of party’s conference, which will take place online this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.