Boris Johnson’s daughter has become the first member of her family to publicly pay tribute to her late grandmother Charlotte Johnson Wahl who died last month aged 79.
The journalist, who is one of Boris Johnson’s four children with ex-wife Marina Wheeler, added that there was talk among her cousins to get her late grandmother’s signature tattooed because her ‘hands shaped her life’s work’ as a painter.
In the piece, Lara also examines Charlotte’s work as a painter, saying her favourite was one of her great uncle Edmund, while she also touches on her mental health battle.
Boris Johnson’s daughter has become the first in her family to pay tribute to Charlotte Johnson Wahl, her late grandmother, who died last month at 79. Lara Johnson-Wheeler with Charlotte Johnson Wahl (left) and Boris Johnson (right) in London 2014.
‘Growing up, I knew Grandma had struggled severely with mental health and had been admitted to hospital for a time, but – as with a number of difficult things – we didn’t speak about it often. Her paintings speak for herself. She wrote that her paintings are clear representations of her anguish and of the desperate scenes in her head.
Charlotte also revealed that a few days before Charlotte’s Notting Hill funeral, one of her ‘wonderful cousins’ shared a voice note with her – a tinny recording of a voicemail she left a few days before her sudden death.
‘Another image that came to mind as I listened to that birthday voicemail was that of Grandma’s strawberries. She loved them and loved to draw them. Six canvases with her unusually wonky, seeded fruits emerged during the cataloguing. They were created between 1969 and 1980. Lara continued.
Lara, the oldest Boris Johnson child, stated that she was not ‘lucky enough to be a star’ in a Charlotte Johnson Wahl painting, but she did share a fax she received from her grandmother when she was seven.
‘In it I am wearing a gingham gown in red and blue, with strawberry-patch details on the shoulders and hem. I still remember the joy I felt as it moved through the machine. Unfortunately, I felt that I could make it more interesting by using my green apple-scented smelly gel pens. I’m sure Grandma didn’t mind – the strawberries and fabric remained untouched,’ she added.
Charlotte died ‘suddenly and peacefully’ at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London last month. The family published a notice in the Times confirming her death.
Lara Johnson-Wheeler (pictured), 28, said her grandmother was ‘unflinchingly honest’ as she wrote about her work as a painter in a sweet piece for Tatler .
Boris Johnson is believed to have called his mother (a professional artist who painted stars like Joanna Lumley), the’supreme authorities’ in his family. The Prime Minister was also a former recipient of the award. He credited her with instilling in his heart “the equal worth of all human lives.”
However, Mrs Johnson Wahl stated that she was raised around ‘rich socialists,’ despite the fact that her sons were Conservative politicians. In a candid interview with Radio Times in 2015, she said that she had never voted Tory.
Mrs Johnson Wahl had an unhappy marriage to Boris’ father Stanley, who was accused of breaking her nose in the 1970s.
Born Charlotte Fawcett at Oxford in 1942, Mrs Johnson Wahl was the daughter Sir James Fawcett (who was president of European Commission for Human Rights during the 1970s).
Mrs Johnson Wahl, despite raising two sons who were Conservative politicians, as well as journalist Rachel and entrepreneur Leo. However, she said that she grew up among ‘rich socialists. In an honest interview with Radio Times, she revealed that she had never voted Tory in 2015. She is pictured with Rachel and Boris
She was one of five children and studied English at Oxford University. She interrupted her education to travel to America in 1963 with Stanley Johnson, whom a friend of hers at Oxford suggested.
In 2015, she spoke out about her meeting Stanley and said that she was engaged to Wynford Hycks. He was not only beautiful, but also boring.
“Anyway” [after the dinner]Stanley wrote me a note asking if I would like to have tea with him and take a walk.
‘So a few days later we went for a walk and he suddenly said, ‘Love is sweet. Revenge is sweeter farther. To the Piazza. Ah ha ha har!”, which made me so happy that I fell in Love with him.
She returned to complete her degree as the first married female undergraduate at her college, Lady Margaret Hall.
Lara concluded the piece by saying that she will miss her grandmother terribly’.
“She has shared incredible scenes with us. Her paintings ensure she’s heard, seen and remembered. She is as vibrant, authentic, and entertaining in every one of her paintings as her voice and emotions are.