Boris Johnson’s mother Charlotte Johnson-Wahl dies ‘suddenly and peacefully’ at the age of 79
- Charlotte Johnson-Wahl is said to have died ‘suddenly and peacefully’ aged 79
- A professional painter, she died in a London hospital on Monday, the family said
- Born Charlotte Fawcett, she was the daughter of the barrister Sir James Fawcett
- She married Boris’s father Stanley Johnson in 1963 and they had four children
- Mrs Johnson-Wahl diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1982 but continued to paint
Boris Johnson‘s mother – a professional painter who continued to use her brush despite being diagnosed with Parkinsons in her 40s – has died at the age of 79.
Charlotte Johnson-Wahl is said to have died ‘suddenly and peacefully’, according to family members.
She passed away London hospital on Monday, the Telegraph reports.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is said to have called her a ‘supreme authority’ in his family.
Tonight messages of support have flooded in for the Prime Minister, including from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who, writing in a Twitter post, said : ‘I’m very sorry to learn of the Prime Minister’s loss. My condolences to him and his family.’
Tory MP Andrew Rosindell also sent his regards, writing in Tweet: ‘Deeply sad to hear of the passing of the Prime Minister’s mother. My thoughts and prayers are with Boris Johnson at this sorrowful time.’
Charlotte Johnson-Wahl is said to have died ‘suddenly and peacefully’, the Telegraph reports. Mrs Johnson-Wahl, a professional painter, died in a London hospital on Monday, the Johnson family said. Here she is pictured with Boris Johnson at the launch of his book ‘The Churchill Factor’ in 2014
Born Charlotte Fawcett, she was the daughter of the barrister Sir James Fawcett – who was president of the European Commission for Human Rights in the 1970s
Born Charlotte Fawcett, she was the daughter of the barrister Sir James Fawcett – who was president of the European Commission for Human Rights in the 1970s.
She studied English at Oxford University but interrupted her education to travel to America with Stanley Johnson, whom she married in 1963.
She returned to complete her degree as the first married female undergraduate at her college.
Mrs Johnson-Wahl painted a variety of subjects, primarily portraits. She was the subject of an exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London in 2015.
Absolutely Fabulous star Joanna Lumley, former Evening Standard editor Simon Jenkins and author Jilly Cooper were among those whose portraits she painted.
Along with Boris Johnson, she was also the mother of former Conservative MP Joseph Johnson, journalist Rachel Johnson, and entrepreneur Leo Johnson.
The Prime Minister’s son Wilfred was her 13th grandchild.
Mrs Johnson-Wahl painted a variety of subjects, primarily portraits. She was the subject of an exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London in 2015
After she and Stanley Johnson divorced in 1979, Mrs Johnson-Wahl married the American professor Nicholas Wahl in 1988.
She was widowed in 1996 when her second husband died of cancer. Mrs Johnson-Wahl had moved to New York, where she worked as an artists painting mostly city skyline landscapes, following her marriage to Mr Wahl.
But she returned to the UK following his death. She was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1982, aged 40.
But she continued to paint despite condition – a progressive nervous system disorder that affects movement and can cause shaking and stiffness.
Speaking to the Telegraph in 2008, she said: ‘I try to paint every day if I possibly can, though I have to go to the hospital a lot.
‘I still manage to paint, though my arm will suddenly do a movement which is completely unintentional and that almost brings me to tears.’
Advertisement