Just Stop Oil protester crashes George Osborne’s wedding and showers newlyweds in orange confetti

A Just Stop Oil protester targeted the wedding of George Osborne and Thea Rogers and showered the newlyweds in orange confetti as they emerged from the church.

The former chancellor, 52, married his former aide at St Mary’s Church in the Somerset village of Bruton on Saturday.

As the pair left the church, a smartly-dressed woman showered them with orange confetti from a Union flag paper bag.

The grey-haired woman, in a floral dress and pale-coloured jacket, emptied the bag of confetti near the couple before she left after being spoken by security.

The couple looked puzzled, but did not appear to speak to the woman, who fled quickly when approached by journalists.

The orange confetti appeared to be similar to that scattered by Just Stop Oil protesters at Wimbledon on Wednesday.

It was initially unclear if Just Stop Oil was behind the stunt, but the group later tweeted: "You look good in orange, George Osborne — congratulations to the newlyweds."

The group then shared a link to an article from 2013 in which Mr Osborne was quoted as saying he did not want the UK to be at the forefront of tackling climate change.

The tweet was condemned by former home secretary Priti Patel, who accused Just Stop Oil of being “shameful, attention seeking, disrespectful low life”.

The Independent has approached Just Stop Oil for comment.

Around 200 people, including well-known politicians and journalists, attended the wedding on Saturday afternoon.

Among the guests attending the service were former prime minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha, former chancellor Sajid Javid and Levelling-Up Secretary Michael Gove.

The wedding already made headlines after an anonymous email was sent earlier this week to many of the invited wedding guests as well as some journalists.

Mr Osborne called in police over the “malicious” email, which is alleged to be part of a “very serious campaign of ongoing harassment” against the couple, carried out over a “long period of time” and alleged to include cyberbullying.

Ms Osborne and his now-wife are said to be “really upset and distressed” by the situation. The former Tory MP has launched a legal complaint against the person and has also asked police to investigate.

The Telegraph reported that the couple believe they know the identity of the author and that they have “no connection” to either Mr Osborne or Ms Rogers.

Mr Osborne and Ms Rogers announced their engagement in April 2021 and are parents to two young children, Arthur and Beau.

Ms Rogers, 40, spent several years as Mr Osborne’s chief of staff, after serving as one of his special advisers.

Mr Osborne served as chancellor in David Cameron’s cabinet between 2010 and 2016.

He went on to become editor-in-chief of the Evening Standard before joining financial consultants Robey Warshaw in 2021.