The new Secretary of Education was asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today program whether Mr Johnson should still have the celebration at the Prime Minister’s cottage in July if it is in someone else’s hands at the time. .
Mr Cleverly said: “I think if this is done right now, I suspect it would be a pretty generous action by the new prime minister to allow this to go ahead.
“Private functions like this do not impose a burden on the public stock market …
“I think it’s rude to be negative about two people who want to celebrate their marriage and their love for each other.”
A No. 10 spokesman said: “The prime minister has a strong sense of duty and will continue to serve his country until there is a new leader, just to continue his obligation to the public.”
Checkers features a heated indoor pool in the Orangery, a putting green and extensive 1,500-acre lawns.
It was given to the nation in 1917 by Lord and Lady Lee of Fareham as a “place of rest and recreation for prime ministers” because those who came to power increasingly had no property of their own.
It was built in 1565 and costs taxpayers nearly a million pounds a year.