Boris Johnson is a very extraordinary figure in British politics, famous in the world for his sense of humor, sharp statements and, of course, a completely naughty hairstyle that literally takes on a life of its own. At the moment, this man is the prime minister of one of the most developed and influential countries in the world, he is an intellectual, a monarchist and the 14th prime minister of Elizabeth II.

Who is Boris Johnson

Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson was born into an unusual family with a very long and rather complicated history, because among his ancestors were members of the British royal family, prominent artists, scientists, translators, paleographers and lawyers.

It is known that Boris Johnson’s paternal great-grandmother was the maid of honor Marie-Louise de Pfeffel, daughter of Baron Hubert de Pfeffel, who was the great-granddaughter of King Frederick I of Württemberg, and he was a third-generation descendant of King George II of Great Britain, who ruled in the 18th century and was the second king in the ruling dynasty to this day. Also among the distant relatives of the politician was the well-known Turkish journalist Ali Kemal, who briefly served as Minister of the Interior in the government of Ahmed Okday, the last Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.

Despite such an amazing list of relatives, Boris Johnson does not speculate on this topic at all and until he found out about his relationship with the king, he considered himself the descendants of emigrants.

“I considered myself a descendant of recent immigrants to Britain, so this is a very strange, surreal feeling when they tell you that your ancestor is in the tenth generation – George II. But we must not forget that people like me now, probably, several thousand people,” he said in 2008.

As for Boris himself, he was born in 1964 in the prestigious Upper East Side of New York. His parents were young students: his father, 23-year-old Stanley Johnson, who studied economics at Columbia University, and his mother, 22-year-old Charlotte Fawcett, an artist from a family of liberal intellectuals. Johnson’s parents met while studying at Oxford and then moved to the United States. In this marriage, in addition to Boris, they had three more children: daughter Rachel, sons Joe and Leo.

As a child, Boris grew up as a calm child, had a close relationship with his brothers and sister, and also suffered from deafness, so at an early age he underwent several operations to establish a bypass in the eardrum. It is also worth noting the education that Johnson received, because it was excellent. He received his primary education at Primrose Hill School, and at the age of 13, thanks to a royal scholarship, he entered Eton Boarding College. It was there that he began to use his middle name Boris, and also coined the image of the “eccentric Englishman” that we see today. As a teenager, Johnson was a rebel, as he abandoned the Catholic religion by converting to Anglicanism, and at school he was often notorious for idleness and tardiness.

The education of the future politician continued at Balliol College, at Oxford University – the alma mater of many famous British politicians. However, his turbulent student life and in particular participation in the Bullingdon Club (a student brotherhood known for its bad behavior, outright vandalism and wealthy members) is remembered by the British to this day.

Political career

Boris Johnson’s career began in journalism, but apparently thanks to family connections. In 1987, 23-year-old Johnson was taken on an internship at The Times, but he did not last long there and was fired with a scandal due to the fact that in one article he came up with a quote and attributed it to historian Colin Lucas, who, by the way, was his godfather father. After that, he worked at The Daily Telegraph, wrote a column for The Spectator, and in between a fairly successful journalistic and editorial career, he tried to write poetry and even issued a collection, but that only received not very good reviews. He also became a popular media personality – he often appeared on various shows and collaborated with the BBC program Have I Got News for You. His clumsy demeanor, slightly unkempt wrinkled clothes, and occasional rather irreverent remarks made him a star on the airwaves.

In the early 2000s, Johnson decides to connect his life with politics. Thanks to frequent appearances on television and popularity, he wins the parliamentary elections. Further, his career developed quite rapidly. Johnson was appointed Shadow Minister and was elected Mayor of London in 2008 and 2012. When Theresa May became leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister, she appointed Johnson as her foreign secretary. Despite this position, he repeatedly allowed himself caustic remarks about other politicians and states, in particular, openly stated that he did not have the slightest sympathy for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the gangster kleptocracy he built.

Since 2016, Johnson has actively supported Brexit , despite the fact that Theresa May was against leaving the EU. On this basis, Johnson resigned and returned to the role of Member of Parliament. After Theresa May’s resignation as leader of the Conservative Party in 2019, Boris Johnson said he would run for the post, as well as for prime minister. On 24 July 2019, the day after Johnson was elected leader of the Conservative Party, Queen Elizabeth II accepted Theresa May’s resignation and appointed Johnson Prime Minister .

British Prime Minister

Boris Johnson has become the 14th British Prime Minister. Simply put, when he was just born, Elizabeth II had been on the throne for 12 years. Johnson himself is a monarchist and has never hidden his commitment to the crown. As for Elizabeth II herself, despite her political impartiality and the ban on disclosing conversations at audiences, she definitely likes Johnson as prime minister. Perhaps he reminds the Queen of Churchill, with whom she had to work at the beginning of her reign, or perhaps Johnson’s ability to show character and the fact that he is not afraid to sharply and directly express her opinion are sympathetic, because, as you know, the queen herself is a rather strong-willed woman who married Philip , who was not the most restrained in his statements.

But as far as the British themselves are concerned, they are not always satisfied with their prime minister. Some praise him for his courage, originality, openness and modernity. Also, in the eyes of many, he is completely different from his predecessors, in particular because of the clumsy image. However, there is a part of British society that is openly dissatisfied with Johnson’s policies, and this opinion was also influenced by several scandals in which the prime minister, his novels, illegitimate children and nepotism were involved at different times.

Love Adventures Premiere

If you think that the British Prime Minister is so busy that he does not have time for his personal life, then you are very mistaken, since Johnson has been married three times already. Also often his relationship ended in scandals associated with intrigues.

The politician’s first love is Allegra Mostyn-Owen, a college classmate, model and daughter of art historian and chairman of Christie’s auction house, millionaire William Mostyn-Owen and his wife, Italian writer Gaia Servadio. They got engaged while studying. This marriage lasted only three years – after a strong quarrel, the couple decided to divorce. However, despite the fact that the gap happened more than 30 years ago, the first wife never spoke negatively in the press about the former and there is no enmity between them.

The second great love of the politician is Marina Wheeler, the daughter of journalist and TV presenter Sir Charles Wheeler. They got married in 1993 and lived together for 25 years. In this marriage, the couple had four children: Lara Lettis, Cassia Peaches, Milo Arthur and Theodore Apollo. During this marriage, Boris had an affair with journalist Petronella Wyatt, after which she announced two interrupted pregnancies – an abortion and a miscarriage. The politician denied this connection, but when it was proven, he was fired for a public lie. In April 2006, the News of the World claimed that Johnson was also having an affair with Guardian journalist Anna Fazakerley. In 2009, the politician had a daughter from the novel Helen McIntyre, an art consultant.

After a series of all these betrayals and public humiliation, Marina Wheeler decided to finally break off relations with her husband. After 25 years of marriage, they filed for divorce, which was only finalized in 2020. At the same time, since 2019, Boris Johnson has already lived with Carrie Symonds, the daughter of the co-founder of The Independent newspaper.

On February 29, 2020, the couple announced that they were expecting a child. Their son was born on April 29 and they named him Wilfred Laurie Nicholas, after the doctors who saved Johnson’s life when he was ill with the coronavirus. A year later, Boris and Carrie got married in a secret ceremony , the bride was then in a modest white dress that she rented. On December 9, 2021, their daughter Romy Iris Charlotte was born.

Style and hairstyle

Johnson’s main calling card is his hairstyle . The prime minister’s blond hair is very unruly, and because of the haircut he wears throughout his life, the slightest breath of wind makes him look like a dandelion.

As for clothing, Johnson always wears it relatively the same: a navy blue suit, white shirt, blue tie and black shoes. However, he differs from many politicians in that he does not really care about the ideality of his appearance, since his shirt is often wrinkled, like his jacket. Although this says more about his busyness than about untidiness.

Despite his high rank, the politician does not indulge in cycling or going for a walk in a bright shirt and shorts on his day off.

Attitude towards Ukraine

Since 2014, Johnson has always spoken negatively about Putin’s policies. Once he even compared him to the elf Dobby from the Harry Potter books.

“Journalists who oppose him are being killed. His competitors are in prison. Although he looks like Dobby’s house elf, in reality he is a ruthless tyrant,” Johnson wrote in his column.

Nothing has changed since that time. As prime minister, Johnson has given Ukraine tremendous support on all fronts. The politician personally came to Ukraine , where he saw the atrocities of the Russian army, and also met with President Vladimir Zelensky. The prime minister has repeatedly noted the heroism of Ukrainians and openly admitted that the slow response of the West to the annexation of Crimea in 2014 was a huge mistake.

Also on May 3, Johnson spoke online in the Verkhovna Rada , becoming the first world leader to address Ukrainian MPs in such a format since the start of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. In his historic speech, he once again called the Russian attack a crime and noted that Ukraine would definitely win this war.

The Ukrainians, in turn, fell in love with the British very much and already named the streets in his honor.

Sense of humor

Once his father told Boris that a sense of humor heals any wounds. Therefore, in his thousands of speeches, he followed his advice: “Jokes will melt the ice and make the audience listen to you. Exaggeration is also OK.”

The politician has a specific sense of humor – British, but this is part of his integral image, his politics and lifestyle.

“My style of speech was criticized by none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is a difficult moment, friends – my rhetoric is criticized by a monosyllabic Austrian cyborg.”

“I never thought that one day Mick Jagger would congratulate me for some achievements,” he said, having won the fight for the chair of the mayor of London.

“The number of women I have slept with is far less than a thousand.”

“What I really think about Banksy is that he’s a genius; he’s a great artist and I love his work. But he has to put up with it if someone needs to paint over his work from time to time.”

“Some people play the piano, some people do Sudoku, some people watch TV, some people go to dinner parties. I write books.”

Read also: