Charlotte Wahl, a well know British painter and mother of U.K.’s Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, died in a hospital on Monday, evening. She was 79 years old and was suffering from Parkinson’s disease. She passed away “peacefully and suddenly” at St. Mary’s hospital, in Paddington, London. Many people have sent tributes to both her and her son, from political parties in England and other countries.
The Telegraph reported that Johnson called his mum the “supreme authority” in his family. He also said that she was the one who instilled in him the value of every human life. He also said that she believed in the “equal” importance, dignity and worth of “every human being on the planet.” Last year, at a press conference, he had mentioned that he was hoping to see her on Mother’s Day. His office later clarified that he would see her on Skype and not in-person as COVID-19 was surging through the nation.
Speaking about her son, Charlotte Wahl said that he was “a very kind man, very fair.” She said that his job as PM sounded like a “ghastly job.” She also explained his public persona to be “shambolic” rather than “daft” as described by others. She also said that he was a talented painter.
Charlotte Wahl was born in 1942. Her father Sir James Fawcett was the president of the European Commission for Human Rights. She once said that her parents were “rich socialists.” She met Boris’ father Stanley Johnson in Oxford. They moved to New York when Stanley got a job in the U.S. and Boris Johnson was born in New York. She returned to Britain when she was pregnant with his sister Rachel.
Charlotte Wahl and Stanley Johnson had four children:
- Boris Johnson, 57 – Prime Minister of U.K.
- Rachel nee Johnson, 56 – journalist
- Leo Johnson, 53 – environmentalist
- Jo nee Johnson, 49 – former Cabinet Minister.
According to her website, she studied English literature at Oxford University. She became a successful painter with exhibitions in galleries in London and Brussels in the seventies. Despite suffering from Parkinson’s, she managed to paint almost every day, as per information on her website.
Neil Butler, who is responsible for cataloging her artwork and curating her 2015 retrospective said that Charlotte Johnson Wahl was a huge talent and that she continued to draw and paint almost until the end. He also said that she was “driven to put things on paper” as it was a way through which she communicated “the emotion and colour inside her head.”
Image Twitter
