MAIL ON SUNDAY: They appeared to be the golden couple of Oxford University.
Boris Johnson was the brains who, as the eccentric president of the prestigious Oxford Union, was already earmarked as a future political leader, while Allegra Mostyn-Owen was the ethereal beauty who had been a Tatler cover girl.
Their romance blossomed amid the city's dreaming spires, and they tied the knot in a grand wedding soon after leaving university. But the fairy tale was not to last long – and today their lives are worlds apart.
As Boris began his term as Mayor of London last week, his former wife went to work at an East London mosque where she teaches art to young Muslims.
This was not the life Allegra seemed destined for. As the only daughter of acclaimed Italian writer Gaia Servadio and multimillionaire landowner and art historian William Mostyn-Owen, a privileged existence amid the upper echelons of society seemed assured.
But Allegra, now 43, is said to have been so deeply affected by the collapse of her marriage that she left all that behind to channel her passions into good causes.
She now lives in a modest home in West Kensington, has never remarried and has no children.The Socialite Named Allegra Who Became Boris Johnson's First Wife >>> By Angella Johnson | May 11, 2008
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY:
Elect One Johnson, and You Might Get More than You Bargained For: Ken had his cronies; Boris has his family. And foremost among them is sister Rachel, his biggest, bestest fan >>> By Katy Guest | May 11, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
