Marina Wheeler

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marina Wheeler

QC
Born
Marina Claire Wheeler

(1964-08-18) 18 August 1964 (age 57)
West Berlin, West Germany
NationalityBritish
EducationEuropean School, Brussels I
Alma materFitzwilliam College, Cambridge
Université libre, Brussels
Occupation
Known forFormer spouse of the prime minister of the United Kingdom (2019–20)
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1993; div. 2020)​
Children4
Parent(s)

Marina Claire Wheeler QC (born 18 August 1964) is a British lawyer, author, columnist, and an ex-wife of British prime minister Boris Johnson. As a barrister, she specialises in public law, including human rights, and is a member of the Bar Disciplinary Tribunal. She was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2016.[1]

Early life[]

Marina Claire Wheeler was born to BBC correspondent Charles Wheeler and his second wife, Dip Singh, an Indian Punjabi Sikh; her ancestry goes back to the city of Sargodha in West Punjab, present-day Pakistan, with her maternal family migrating to present-day India after the Partition of India.[2][3] In 2020 her memoir The Lost Homestead: my family, partition and the Punjab, detailing her family's history in India, was published.[4] It was shortlisted for the 2021 RSL Christopher Bland Prize.[5]

She was educated at the European School of Brussels, and then in the early 1980s at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where she wrote for the student magazine Cantab.[6][7][8]

At the European School, she became friendly with Boris Johnson, later a journalist and politician.[9] Her sister, Shirin Wheeler, is an EU spokeswoman.[10]

Career[]

After Cambridge, Wheeler returned to Brussels and worked there for four years. In 1987, she was called to the Bar, practising from chambers in London at One Crown Office Row. In her work as a barrister, Wheeler specialises in mental health matters and discrimination claims. In January 2004, she was appointed to the B-Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown.[11] In 2009, she joined the Bar Disciplinary Tribunal as a barrister member.[12]

Of her legal work, Wheeler has stated:

My own experience, shared by many colleagues, is that a high proportion of discrimination cases we deal with are ill-founded. One colleague puts the figure at more than 60 per cent... Many unregulated advisors make a living bringing discrimination claims, and they do not always seem to have the best interests of the Applicant in mind.[13]

In February 2016, she became a Queen's Counsel.[14]

Personal life[]

On 8 May 1993, a pregnant Wheeler married her childhood friend Boris Johnson, whose previous marriage had ended 12 days earlier.[15] They had met again and teamed up together in Brussels, where he was covering the European Parliament for The Daily Telegraph. Their eldest daughter was born on 12 June 1993.[15] Together they have four children: Lara Lettice, Milo Arthur, Cassia Peaches, and Theodore Apollo.[7][16]

In September 2018, Johnson and Wheeler issued a statement confirming that after 25 years of marriage, they had separated "several months ago" and begun divorce proceedings.[17] They reached a financial settlement in February 2020,[18] and the divorce was finalised by November 2020.[19]

In August 2019, Wheeler revealed that she had been diagnosed with cervical cancer earlier in the year and had undergone two operations to be in remission.[20]

References[]

  1. ^ Williams, Zoe (22 January 2016). "New QCs Justine Thornton and Marina Wheeler: Is the legal profession still sexist?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  2. ^ Murtaza Ali Shah (2 May 2015). "London Mayor, wife wish to visit 'amazing' Pakistan | World". Geo.tv. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  3. ^ "London mayor, wife wish to visit Pakistan soon – The Express Tribune". Tribune.com.pk. 3 May 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  4. ^ Wheeler, Marina (2020). The Lost Homestead: My Family, Partition and the Punjab. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-1-4736-7774-6. OCLC 1147952565.
  5. ^ "RSL Christopher Bland Prize 2021 – Shortlist announced". Royal Society of Literature. 17 May 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  6. ^ Sir Charles Wheeler (obituary) at telegraph.co.uk
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b "Family of influence behind Boris Johnson". The Daily Telegraph. 3 May 2008. Archived from the original on 10 August 2009.
  8. ^ Amit Roy, Boris gets on his bike from The Telegraph of Calcutta, 11 May 2008
  9. ^ Brian Wheeler, The Boris Johnson story dated 4 May 2008 at news.bbc.co.uk
  10. ^ "Press contacts – Spokesperson's Service" (PDF). Ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  11. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 May 2008. Retrieved 4 May 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. ^ "Marina Wheeler" (PDF). 1cor.com.
  13. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. ^ "Guardian Legal Network". Inforrm.wordpress.com. 11 January 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b Andy McSmith (13 February 2016). "Marina Wheeler, profile: The brains behind Boris Johnson". The Independent. Retrieved 31 May 2021. The Mayor’s wife couldn’t be more different from her husband – but are they on the same side of the EU debate?
  16. ^ Wheeler, Brian (4 May 2008). "The Boris Johnson story". BBC News. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  17. ^ "Boris Johnson and wife to divorce". BBC News. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  18. ^ Ames, Jonathan (18 February 2020). "PM reaches financial settlement with estranged wife". The Times. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  19. ^ Coke, Hope (9 November 2020). "Marina Wheeler opens up about life post-Boris Johnson". Tatler. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  20. ^ Moore, Matthew (12 August 2019). "I put off test that spotted my cervical cancer, says Boris Johnson's wife Marina Wheeler". The Times.

External links[]

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