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After being held in a maximum security prison in London since 2019, Julian Assange returns to his wife and two children in Australia as a free man.
The 52-year-old WikiLeaks founder was responsible for the publication of hundreds of thousands of classified US military documents on the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the largest security breaches of their kind in US military history.
Assange has been banned indefinitely from entering the United States after pleading guilty to felony espionage, and has been released without parole or supervision after a hearing in a US federal court on the island of Saipan, in the Peaceful.
In April 2019, Assange was forcibly removed from the Ecuadorian embassy after his diplomatic asylum was revoked, and spent five years in Belmarsh prison in London, fighting extradition to the United States.
While in Belmarsh, he married his partner Stella with whom he had two children while taking refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy.
As he returns to his family in his homeland, Australia, we explore how Julian Assange proposed to his lawyer wife, as well as his subsequent high-profile prison wedding.
After being held in a maximum security prison in London since 2019, today Julian Assange returns to his wife and two children in Australia as a free man (file image)
Stella Assange began a relationship with Julian in 2015, before getting engaged to him in 2017.
Almost 14 years since the WikiLeaks founder’s ordeal began, Stella has not only remained by his side, but has fought vehemently for her husband’s freedom (file image)
Who is Stella Assange and how did she and Julian Assange meet?
Stella Assange, 40, is a human rights lawyer who was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, to a theater director mother and urban planner father.
Stella has Spanish and Swedish nationality and lived in Botswana, Lesotho, Sweden and Spain before attending university in the UK.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in law and politics from the prestigious School of Oriental and African Studies in London and completed her master’s degree at Oxford, where she was a leading academic.
She became a member of Julian’s inner circle at the embassy and officially changed her name from Sara González Devant to Stella Morris so she could maintain a lower profile while researching and drafting legal documents for WikiLeaks.
Stella later began a relationship with Julian in 2015 before getting engaged to him in 2017.
Almost 14 years since the WikiLeaks founder’s ordeal began, Stella has not only remained by his side, but has fought vehemently for her husband’s freedom.
Julián and Stella have two sons, Gabriel (left) and Max (right), who were conceived while their father was hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy to avoid his extradition to the United States (file image)
Julián and Stella have two children, Gabriel and Max, who were conceived while their father was hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy to avoid extradition to the United States.
Gabriel came into the world in 2017, followed by the arrival of Max in February 2019.
How did Julian Assange propose to Stella Assange?
Julian reportedly popped the question to Stella while she was pregnant with their first child and incorporated the use of technology for a truly unique proposal.
speaking to The times In 2020, Stella revealed that Julian used a virtual reality headset to ask for her hand in marriage, saying there was a “surprise” inside.
“I found myself wandering in that digital world,” he recalls. “There was a house, then a beach decorated with balloons and all kinds of things.”
‘And then Julian said ‘look up’ and there was a huge ‘Will you marry me?’ written in the sky.’
Where did Julian Assange and Stella Assange get married?
Stella appeared in front of HMP Belmarsh in March 2022 wearing a long wedding dress and one of designer Vivienne Westwood’s signature corsets (file image).
The Wikileaks founder married his long-term fiancé in a ceremony inside HMP Belmarsh in March 2022.
The human rights lawyer appeared outside the jail wearing a long wedding dress and one of designer Vivienne Westwood’s signature corsets.
Her floor-length tulle veil was embroidered with messages from her friends and family that included words like “brave, wild, relentless and free and lasting love.”
Assange wore a Scottish kilt specially made by the designer in honor of his Scottish roots.
The couple married inside the high-security south-east London prison in a small ceremony attended by two guests and two prison guards, with one guard acting as wedding snapper.
Stella’s floor-length tulle veil was embroidered with messages from her friends and family that included words like “brave, wild, relentless, free and lasting love.”
After a civil ceremony and a blessing by a Catholic chaplain in the presence of their two young sons, Gabriel, seven, and Max, six, the new Mr. and Mrs. Julian Assange were escorted back to the general visiting room of the prison.
Stella Moris leaves HMP Belmarsh prison after her wedding to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in London, Britain, on March 23, 2022 (file image)
In an op-ed for The Guardian before the ceremony, Stella said of the dress: “I feel honored to wear your beautiful creation. It is a symbol of our love and defiance in the face of this cruel situation.”
The prison denied permission for journalists or a photographer to be present as witnesses for security reasons.
After a civil ceremony and a blessing by a Catholic chaplain in the presence of their two young sons – Gabriel, seven, and Max, six – the new Mr and Mrs Julian Assange were escorted back to the prison’s general visiting room.
