The blonde Finn who melted the heart of Bank of England boss

Since the couple married two months ago, 59-year-old Mr King - who never discusses his private life - has maintained the veil of secrecy that surrounded his new wife and their wedding ceremony in Helsinki.

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But The Mail on Sunday can now reveal that Mr King's marriage to Barbara Melander, pictured here for the first time, took place at an old church in the centre of the Finnish capital with just a handful of family members present.

The ceremony on May 26 was followed by a champagne reception at a wood-panelled club nearby, and then dinner for 80 guests.

The hawkish Mr King - who has presided over five interest rate rises since last August - has never been married before. But 60-year-old Barbara, a successful businesswoman, is a divorcee and her two daughters - Nikka Laakonnen and Anna Cox, who lives in West London - were among the few guests at the ceremony.

Anna's British husband Gordon revealed: "It was a very modest and low-key family affair. Barbara wore a green dress - not a traditional wedding dress - and Mervyn wore a suit. There was nothing grand about it. They are very happy together and give the impression they were made for each other."

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Barbara's long-term friend Hely Abbondati revealed that the couple first met more than 30 years ago. Romance blossomed only when they became reacquainted after Barbara split from Finnish businessman Jarkko Nieminen in 1996. He has since died.

Ms Abbondati said: "Barbara is a remarkable lady. She is a successful businesswoman who has had an international career in furniture and interior design.

"Any successful businesswoman has to be a strong character and Barbara is no exception."

The Kings divide their time between an apartment in Notting Hill, West London, and a beautiful converted oast house in a remote hamlet outside Canterbury, Kent. It is, of course, unlikely that they will be troubled by mortgage payments.

A neighbour in Kent, who did not want to be named, said: "They are very private and don't really mix socially with people around here."

Mr King, the son of a railway clerk, was born in Chesham Bois, Buckinghamshire. He is said to be a highly focused but unstuffy workaholic who has a passion for cricket and football - he is a patron of Worcestershire County Cricket Club and has been an enthusiastic supporter of Aston Villa since his family moved to the Midlands when he was a child.

He got a first in economics from King's College, Cambridge, completed an MA at St John's, Cambridge, and went on to Harvard before becoming a professor at the London School of Economics.

Barbara Melander, who comes from the close-knit Swedish-speaking minority in Finland, is believed to have moved to the UK in the late Nineties.

Mr Cox said: "I don't know how they met. They are quite private so I haven't really felt it was my position to pry. I only found out about his job when I married Anna in 2004. Until then I thought he was just a professor."

The tricky judgment Mr King now faces, however, is not whether to put up interest rates again, but how to combine his love of football and cricket with his new-found status as a married man.