Personal Life
William Hague married Ffion Jenkins at the House of Commons Crypt in 1997. He is currently a Vice President of the Friends of the British Library, which provides funding support to the British Library to make new acquisitions. Hague is a Patron of the European Youth Parliament UK, an educational charity organisation that runs debating competitions and discussion forums across the UK. Hague is also a judo practitioner. He learnt the piano in his early 40s and has a keen interest in music. He is also an enthusiast for the natural history and countryside of his native Yorkshire.
In early September 2010, a number of newspapers including The Daily Telegraph, The Independent and Daily Mail published stories about the fallout from allegations surrounding Hague's friendship with 25-year-old Christopher Myers, a history graduate from Durham University whom he employed as a parliamentary special adviser. A spokesperson stated that "Any suggestion that the Foreign Secretary's relationship with Chris Myers is anything other than a purely professional one is wholly inaccurate and unfounded." On 1 September 2010, Myers resigned from his position in the light of the press allegations. The media stories led Hague to make a public statement, in which he confirmed that he had "occasionally" shared a hotel room with Myers, but described as "utterly false" suggestions that he had ever been involved in a relationship with any man. A spokesperson for the Prime Minister David Cameron reported that he offered his "full support" over the media rumours. However, a number of figures from both within and without the Conservative Party criticised Hague for his personal response to the stories. Former Conservative leadership candidate John Redwood suggested that Hague showed "poor judgement" whilst Labour-supporting Speaker's wife Sally Bercow commented that Hague had been given "duff PR advice". Hague's political colleague and friend, the Conservative MP and government minister Alan Duncan, described the media coverage as "contemptible".
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