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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Jack Gevertz

Who was Charlotte Johnson Wahl? Prime Minister Boris Johnson's mother dies aged 79

Boris Johnson’s mother, Charlotte Johnson Wahl, has died at the age of 79.

The Times newspaper had a notice printed in it which said she had passed away “suddenly and peacefully” while at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London.

Condolences to the Prime Minister and his family have been sent from several political figures.

Read More: Fact check: Is the UK government really sending cash directly to Welsh health services

Who was Charlotte Johnson Wahl?

Charlotte Johnson Wahl was an esteemed painter whose portraits included stars such as Joanna Lumley.

She married Stanley Johnson in 1963 and became one of the first married female undergraduates in her Oxford University college, where she was studying for her degree.

Together, the couple had four children - Boris, Rachel, a journalist, Jo, a former MP and Leo, an environmental campaigner. They divorced 16 years later, in 1979.

Several years later she met and married her husband, American professor Nicholas Wahl, and moved to New York in 1988 to be with him.

She, then, began painting city spaces, which proved to be such a hit she sold out an exhibition.

Charlotte returned to the UK in 1996 following Wahl’s death and lived in London.

When she was 40, she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease but remained determined to carry on painting, using a walking frame as an aid as she did so.

What tributes have been paid to Charlotte Johnson Wahl?

Labour Party leader, Sir Keir Starmer, sent his condolence message to the Prime Minister when he heard the news.

He posted on Twitter: "I'm very sorry to learn of the prime minister's loss. My condolences to him and his family."

The Prime Minister’s colleague and friend, Conservative MP Conor Burns, also tweeted: "So sad to hear of the death of Boris Johnson's mum. Thoughts and prayers are with him and the whole of the Johnson clan."

The co-chair of the Conservative Party, Amanda Milling, added: “Thinking of Boris Johnson and his family this evening. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.”

Fellow Conservative MP Angela Richardson posted on Twitter: “Sad news for the PM tonight as well as the rest of the Johnson family. Thoughts with them all.”

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