ARTIST Charlotte Johnson Wahl isn’t just Boris Johnson’s mum – she’s also well-respected painter with a host of high flying clients.
Here is everything you need to know about her, from whether she too is a Tory and when she had Boris…
Who is Charlotte Johnson Wahl?
Charlotte Johnson Wahl was born in Oxford in 1942.
She is the daughter of Sir James Fawcett, who was the president of the European Comission for Human Rights, Charlotte describes her parents as “rich socialists.”
Charlotte met Boris’s dad, Stanley Johnson, at Oxford University where she studied English.
At the time, aged 18, she was already engaged to another student named Wynford Hicks whom she describes as “extraordinarily beautiful to look at but actually quite boring.”
Stanley and Charlotte had four children, Boris, Rachel, Jo and Leo.
She interrupted her studies to go to the US after Stanley got a job there, but returned to become the first married female undergraduate at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
She describes how when she sat her final university exams, she was already pregnant with Rachel and Boris was “in the pram outside the exam hall”.
Boris, 56, is known for being the former Mayor of London and former Foreign Secretary and becoming Prime Minister in July 2019.
His brother Jo, 46, followed a similar path and became the MP for Orpington in 2010.
Charlotte’s two other children, Rachel and Leo, are equally successful.
Rachel works as a writer and columnist and makes regular TV appearances, whereas Leo is a film-maker and entrepreneur.
Charlotte suffers from Parkinson’s disease but underwent an operation that helps her with her “shakes”.
What does Charlotte Johnson Wahl say about Boris?
Charlotte Johnson Wahl said that her son is “a very kind man, very fair,” although she does say that being PM sounds like a “ghastly job”.
She also says that he isn’t as “daft” as he seems, describing his public persona as “shambolic”.
Before Boris was elected, she said of his ambitions for the top: “I worry about what the hell he’s going to do next. He is interested in the leadership of the Conservative Party, but he could equally well retire and become a painter.
“He’s a very good painter. If he reaches the top, I’d feel very proud, but very anxious. It’s a ghastly job being Prime Minister.”
Of her two eldest children, Charlotte said in an interview with Tatler: “Rachel is not the tough person she seems to be.
“She really minds about things and can become terribly upset and Boris is so soft-hearted.”
Who is Charlotte Johnson Wahl’s husband?
In 1963 Charlotte married Stanley Johnson in a ceremony in Marylebone, but their marriage broke down in 1979 and the couple divorced.
In 1988 she married American academic Nick Wahl but he sadly died in 1996 after a long battle with cancer.
According to a bombshell book, Stanley broke the PM’s mother’s nose.
Charlotte Wahl ended up in hospital after she “flailed” at her then husband and he flailed back, it is alleged.
Family and friends of Stanley reportedly insisted that Stanley, now 80, deeply regretted the incident and denied that he had been violent on any other occasion.
He has declined to comment and reportedly said he hadn’t read the book.
What is Charlotte Johnson Wahl’s job?
Charlotte Johnson Wahl is a successful and well renowned painter.
Charlotte mainly specialises in painting portraits, and her clientele include Crispin Tickell, Joanna Lumley, Jilly Cooper and Simon Jenkins, but also paints landscapes which have been described as echoing the Vorticist style.
When Boris was appointed Mayor of London in 2008 he commissioned his mother to paint a city-scape of London – the view from his office.
Is Charlotte Johnson Wahl a Tory?
Boris’s mum says despite marrying a Tory and having four Tory children she has never voted Conservative.
She claims that she is “very left” and describes her parents as “socialist”.
Charlotte does like Jeremy Corbyn and says that seeing him in politics now reminds her of the politics when she was young.
“It’s back to the politics that I remember when I was young. I recognise what he’s on about,” she said.
“But I think he ought to do away with his beard – makes him look a bit like an old wizard.”
Did Charlotte Johnson Wahl attend Boris Johnson’s wedding to Carrie?
HOAR can reveal that both the bride and groom’s mothers were present at the celebration, including Charlotte Johnson Wahl.
Charlotte was joined by her other children Rachel, Jo and Leo to witness the PM marry Carrie Symonds on May 30, 2021.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions there were only 30 specially selected guests at the secret ceremony at Westminster Cathedral.
