Allegra Mostyn-Owen
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Allegra Mostyn-Owen is a British journalist and teacher. She is notable for being the first wife of former British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
. Mostyn-Owen was born in London to art historian and
Christie's Education Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is owned by Groupe Artémis, ...
chairman,
William Mostyn-Owen William "Willy" Mostyn-Owen (10 May 1929 – 2 May 2011) was a British art historian. He worked for some years with the art expert Bernard Berenson, and was his bibliographer. He was connected with the auctioneers Christie's for 30 years. Early ...
, and Italian writer
Gaia Servadio Gaia Cecilia Metella Servadio (13 September 1938 – 20 August 2021) was an Italian writer. Early life and career Servadio was born in Padua, the daughter of industrial chemist Luxardo Servadio and wife Bianca Prinzi. Her father was Jewish and ...
. She was raised by her parents alongside her two brothers, Orlando and Owen. During her time as an undergraduate student at Trinity College, Oxford she worked as a journalist and met Johnson. Mostyn-Owen and Johnson married in 1987, before divorcing in 1993. She remarried in 2010.


Education and career

Mostyn-Owen attended
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
at the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
in 1983. She studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics as an undergraduate. Students often spoke of her as one of Oxford's most beautiful women. This judgement was confirmed through her modelling roles. These roles included being photographed by
David Bailey David Royston Bailey (born 2 January 1938) is an English photographer and director, most widely known for his fashion photography and portraiture, and role in shaping the image of the Swinging Sixties. Early life David Bailey was born at Wh ...
for the cover of '' Tatler'' magazine and Terence Donovan for ''Vogue''. She was also on the books of the renowned Models1 modelling agency in London. Her career in journalism began when she became the joint student editor of Oxford's '' The Isis'' in 1985. After graduating from university, Mostyn-Owen began working for the British newspaper, the ''
Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...
''. She worked on the paper's gossip column "
Londoner's Diary "Londoner's Diary" is a gossip column in the London ''Evening Standard''. Since 1916 the column has provided readers with witty and mischievous insights into high society; from political scandals and literary feuds to the backstage gossip at fash ...
" but resigned the following April. Following her exit from journalism, she received her
master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
in EU Law from the Université libre de Bruxelles in Belgium. Following her divorce from Johnson, Mostyn-Owen embarked on a new career teaching Muslim women English and art at the Minhaj-UI-Quran Mosque in East London. Shortly after, she persuaded mosque elders to let her start art classes for boys and girls aged five to fourteen. In 2010, Mostyn-Owen spoke at a public event on the closing of the Muslim Mind and the audience was reportedly gripped by her "creative and kindly" personality. She also creates ceramics in her studio in West London. She developed her ceramics through adult education in Hammersmith and Fulham and one-to-one tuition from
Seth Cardew Seth Cardew (11 November 1934 – 2 February 2016) was an English studio potter. He was the eldest son of fellow potter Michael Cardew and the brother of the composer Cornelius Cardew. Cardew was born in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire. He began ...
at Wenford Bridge.


Relationship with Boris Johnson

Mostyn-Owen met
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
halfway through their first year at
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. The pair met as a result of an supposed error on his part. He was invited to a party that she co-hosted but arrived at on the wrong night with a bottle of wine. She was reading an Economics textbook when he showed up at her door. Mostyn-Owen recalled their exchange, "There's this stranger at the door who goes, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh." I'd never met him but he said he'd seen me at a
Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...
debate." The pair drank the bottle he had brought and talked for several hours. There were "lots of good jokes and lots of bad jokes." Their relationship developed and she considered him her best friend. They exchanged notes several times a day after they met. These notes often contained "little rhyming couplets". They went on to date throughout university and were a "golden, glossy, head-turning double act". The pair were often described as the "perfect couple" as she was "the girl from the cover of '' Tatler''" and he was "the future prime minister". There is a photo of the pair attending The Sultans Ball at Oxford Town Hall in March 1986 in photographer Dafydd Jones's book ''Oxford: The Last Hurrah''. Jones explained that he had taken their picture because "they looked very comfortable with each other." The pair decided early on in their relationship to get married. They were both 23 and were the youngest of their Oxford set to marry. They were married on 5 September 1987, and their wedding was held at St Michael and All Angels, West Felton in
Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...
. At their wedding, a violinist and a viola player played a piece composed for the occasion by the highly regarded composer, Hans Werner Henze, titled "Allegra e Boris – Duetto Concertante per Violino e Viola all’Occasione Delle Loro Faustissime Nozze il 5 Settembre, 1987". The daughter of
Rod Steiger Rodney Stephen Steiger (; April 14, 1925July 9, 2002, aged 77) was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Cited as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars," he is closely assoc ...
and Claire Bloom,
Anna Steiger Anna Justine Steiger (born 13 February 1960Slonimsky, Nicolas and Kuhn, Laura (eds.) (2001)"Steiger, Anna" ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', 10th Edition, Volume 6. Accessed online via Highbeam, 12 July 2012.) is a British and Ame ...
, sang from ''The Marriage of Figaro''. The reception was held at the Mostyn-Owens' country house, a grade II-listed estate called Woodhouse, sitting on 1,500 acres. She wore flowers through her hair, whilst Johnson arrived with borrowed trousers. The media portrayed their wedding as perfect, with the ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
'' describing it "as a cross between La Dolce Vita and Brideshead Revisited." However, she considered the day of their wedding "the end of their relationship rather than the beginning." After spending their honeymoon in
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, they settled in West Kensington and Johnson began working for ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' whilst Mostyn-Owen joined the ''
Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...
''. Mostyn-Owen's job was overshadowed by Johnson's who was reportedly "married to his job". According to Mostyn-Owen, Johnson showed neither sympathy nor interest in her career, and she found herself sitting alone in their apartment rarely spending an evening with her husband. She would often not know where he was, "The really bad times were when he didn't tell me he was going to be away." In the summer of 1989, Mostyn-Owen finished her law exams and travelled to
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
with Johnson after he became the European correspondent for ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
''. During their six years of marriage, the pair broke up once and when
Marina Wheeler Marina Claire Wheeler (born 18 August 1964) is a British lawyer and writer. 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. S ...
became pregnant with Johnson's child in 1993, Mostyn-Owen ended their relationship. Mostyn-Owen and Johnson had no contact following their divorce until he began inviting her for "periodic lunches". After hearing the news about Mostyn-Owen's second marriage, he rang to congratulate her and when he was seeking re-election as
London Mayor The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current m ...
, he recruited her as part of his Muslim Engagement Taskforce. In an interview with the ''Evening Standard'', Mostyn-Owen claimed "he's a better ex than he was a husband".


Second marriage

Since marrying her second husband, who is from
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, Mostyn-Owen explained, and that she found it "very rewarding to have this whole connection with Pakistan." Mostyn-Owen remains Christian and has "never been tempted to convert to Islam herself."


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mostyn-Owen, Allegra 1964 births Living people 20th-century British journalists Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford 21st-century British women artists British people of Italian-Jewish descent Université libre de Bruxelles alumni