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Petronella Wyatt

Petronella Wyatt
Born
Petronella Aspasia Wyatt

(1968-05-06) 6 May 1968 (age 57)
London, England
NationalityBritish
EducationSt Paul's Girls' School
Alma materWorcester College, Oxford
University College London
Occupation(s)Journalist, author
PartnerBoris Johnson (2000–2004)
Parent(s)Woodrow Wyatt
Veronica Banszky von Ambroz (née Racz)

Petronella "Petsy" Aspasia Wyatt[1] (born 6 May 1968) is a British journalist and author.

Early life and education

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Wyatt was born on 6 May 1968 at 12 Devonshire Street, London, England.[2] Her parents were the journalist and Labour MP Woodrow Wyatt and his fourth wife, Hungarian-born Veronica "Verushka" Banszky von Ambroz (née Racz).[3][4][5][6]

Wyatt attended St Paul's Girls' School.[7] She then began reading history at Worcester College, Oxford. Wyatt left the university within weeks of her first term, after, she says, suffering persistent bullying and harassment due to her father's position as friend of and political advisor to Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher.[8] She subsequently read history at University College London.[8]

Career

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After graduating, Wyatt became a trainee journalist and later weekly columnist for the Sunday Telegraph in the early 1990s. She then worked for The Spectator magazine, where she was promoted to deputy editor.[5]

In 1996, when interviewing the proposed Labour Minister for Women Janet Anderson, Anderson joked that "under Labour, women will become more promiscuous", which Wyatt reported as policy.[9] Denis Healey regretted at the close of an interview with Wyatt that there was no time left for "rumpy pumpy".[3]

Personal life

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In the 1980s and 1990s, Wyatt occasionally crossed paths with Ghislaine Maxwell,[10] a close friend of convicted sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein. Among various London encounters in which Maxwell tried to recruit her, Maxwell invited Wyatt to a lesbian sex party.[11] Wyatt subsequently appeared in, and consulted on, the 2022 documentary film Ghislaine Maxwell: Filthy Rich.[12]

Between 2000 and 2004, Wyatt had an affair with the then editor of The Spectator and Conservative MP Boris Johnson.[13] Johnson had promised to leave his wife, and the affair had resulted in a terminated pregnancy and a miscarriage.[14] When her mother found out about the affair, she discussed it with the press.[5][13] Johnson was fired from his shadow cabinet post by party leader Michael Howard for lying about the affair, after he had initially categorically denied it, famously calling the true allegation "an inverted pyramid of piffle".[15][13][16]

Publications

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  • Father, dear Father: Life with Woodrow Wyatt, Hutchinson, London, 1999. ISBN 0-09-929760-4
  • Secrets of The Press, edited by Stephen Glover.
  • The Third Plantagenet: George Duke of Clarence, John Ashdown Hill. The History Press, 2014. Contribution.

References

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  1. ^ The Third Plantagenet: Duke of Clarence, Richard III's Brother
  2. ^ Wyatt, Petronella (31 May 2012). Father Dear Father. Random House. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-4481-3693-3.
  3. ^ a b Popham, Peter (17 March 1997). "Media families 5. The Wyatts". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  4. ^ Watling, Lindsay (10 September 2012). "'All cyclists should have a licence', says Petronella Wyatt as her mother is injured twice in a month". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  5. ^ a b c "Woodrow, Verushka, Pericles and Petronella: welcome to the world of the Wyatts". The Independent. 20 November 2004. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  6. ^ "Obituary: Lord Wyatt of Weeford". The Independent. 9 December 1997. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  7. ^ Wyatt, Petronella (10 August 2012). "My daddy Woodrow Wyatt, Robin Day and a sporting disaster". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  8. ^ a b Wyatt, Petronella (30 November 2012). "Petronella Wyatt: I was bullied out of Oxford for being a Tory". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  9. ^ Picardie, Ruth (3 October 1996). "Promiscuity. A new war cry for Labour?". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  10. ^ GBNews (29 November 2022). ‘They’ve made an example of her!’ | Petronella Wyatt ‘feels sorry’ for Ghislaine Maxwell. Retrieved 30 July 2025 – via YouTube.
  11. ^ "Who is Petronella Wyatt? Ghislaine Maxwell tried to lure her into sexual acts, invited for lesbian sex party". MEAWW.com. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2025. 'Maxwell asked, 'Have you ever had lesbian sex?' in the same manner as one would discuss the weather. She enjoyed shocking people,' said Petronella Wyatt... In the Netflix documentary, Wyatt reveals that Maxwell was the most overtly sexual woman she ever met and had an insatiable appetite... Wyatt... was once engaged to Austrian tennis player Johannes Muehlenburg and is known to date former British Prime Minister David Cameron.
  12. ^ Martin, Guy. "Ghislaine Maxwell's London History: Former London 'Spectator' Editor Petronella Wyatt Lowers The Boom". Forbes. Retrieved 30 July 2025. Wyatt is a consultant on the Netflix documentary Ghislaine Maxwell: Filthy Rich... it has often been alleged that her, Maxwell's appetite for, first, pleasing rich and powerful men... and second, for sex with young women in Epstein's thrall was a matter of course. Both these proclivities of Maxwell's are fully explored in Ms. Wyatt's riveting story of her occasional encounters with Maxwell.
  13. ^ a b c Porter, Andrew; Hellen, Nicholas (14 November 2004). "Boris Johnson sacked for lying over affair". The Times. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008.
  14. ^ Carey, Alexis (24 July 2019). "How Boris Johnson's affair with Petronella Wyatt nearly ended his career". news.com.au.
  15. ^ "Piffle: Boris Johnson in his own words". 7 July 2022.
  16. ^ Hinsliff, Gaby (14 November 2004). "Boris Johnson sacked by Tories over private life". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 August 2017.