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Boris Johnson and his very personal link with India
Marina, 55, is the daughter of the BBC’s Delhi correspondent during the 1960s, Charles Wheeler, and his second wife, Dip Singh, whose family origins lie in Sarogodha in present-day Pakistan, but moved to India after partition. They married in Delhi in 1961.
Boris Johnson has had a colourful personal life that often made headlines and partly led to separation from his Indian-origin wife, Marina Wheeler.
Marina, 55, is the daughter of the BBC’s Delhi correspondent during the 1960s, Charles Wheeler, and his second wife, Dip Singh, whose family origins lie in Sarogodha in present-day Pakistan, but moved to India after partition. They married in Delhi in 1961.
Johnson’s visits to India since his marriage to Marina included her extended family of descendants and relatives of the legendary builder Shobha Singh. Her mother, Dip Singh, was first married to one of Shobha Singh’s four sons, Daljit (the other three included the iconic writer Khushwant Singh).
Johnson often referred to “my Indian relatives” that include Marina’s extended family of Sikh faith. He got into trouble during the 2017 election when he spoke during a meeting in a Bristol gurdwara about having to carry Scotch whisky for his relatives whenever he visits India.
