Petronella Wyatt

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Petronella Wyatt (born 1969) is a British journalist and author. She is the daughter of the former journalist and Labour politician, the late Lord Wyatt, and his fourth wife, Veronica (Verushka) Banszky Von Ambroz.

Born in London, Wyatt attended St Paul's Girls' School in London before reading History at University College, London.

She has been a weekly columnist for the Sunday Telegraph and The Spectator, of which she was deputy editor. She currently writes political interviews and main feature articles for the Daily Mail. Her interviewees have included John Major,^[1] David Blunkett,^[2] and Piers Morgan.^[3] Her television appearances include Question Time and Newsnight.

In 2004 British newspapers reported that she had an affair with Conservative MP Boris Johnson,^[4] and that Boris ^[5] had promised to leave his wife.

In May 2007, Private Eye reported that Wyatt had been instructed by Paul Dacre, the editor of the Daily Mail, to pen an attack on Wikipedia over the content of her entry on the site.^[6] This was published on 22 April 2007 when Wyatt admitted to writing her initial entry and then threatening to sue over vandalism to the page. She concluded the article by saying:

Education Secretary Alan Johnson may claim that Wikipedia is educational history and "a force for good". But if Wikipedia is "history", then history is indeed bunk. I suspect that Mr Johnson, perhaps, just wanted to read more about my embonpoint. Wicked-pedia!^[7]

Wyatt, whose hobby is singing and lyric-writing, recently devised and wrote a cabaret act called Kiss and Tell with the pianist and composer Jeremy Limb, the poet Lloyd Evans and the singer Melinda Hughes, which has been performed at Volstead, a well-known London club, and at various private functions.^[8]

[edit] Publications

• Father, dear Father: Life with Woodrow Wyatt, Hutchinson, London, 1999. ISBN 0-09-929760-4

[edit] References