Misplaced Pages

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Petronella Wyatt (born May 1968), is a British journalist and author. She is the daughter of the former journalist and Labour politician, the late Woodrow Wyatt, and his fourth wife, the Hungarian Veronica (Verushka) Banszky Von Ambroz.

Biography

Born in London, Wyatt attended St Paul's Girls' School in London before reading History at Worcester College, Oxford for a week, and then transferring and later graduating from University College, London. She is listed in her University year book as "Student who is most likely to make a living re-enforcing negative prejudices at a third-rate right wing rag".

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, David Blunkett, and Piers Morgan. Known for her direct and playful interview style, Wyatt got proposed Labour Minister for Women Janet Anderson to say that under a Labour Government women would be more promiscuous; and Denis Healey to regret that as the interview had gone on for so long, there was now no time for some Rumpy Pumpy.

Wyatt's television appearances include Question Time and Newsnight.

Misplaced Pages article

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 Misplaced Pages over the content of her entry on the site. 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 Misplaced Pages is educational history and "a force for good". But if Misplaced Pages is "history", then history is indeed bunk. I suspect that Mr Johnson, perhaps, just wanted to read more about my embonpoint. Wicked-pedia!

Personal life

Wyatt, known to her friends as "Petsy," lives with her mother in St John's Wood, North London.

After she had lived in the United States for the latter half of 2003 with Charles Bruce Berry at his home in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2004 British newspapers reported that she had had a four-year affair with the then-Conservative MP Boris Johnson. The affair, which had been well hinted at in UK newspaper gossip columns, included passionate London taxi cab rides around St John's Wood during which they would ask the cab driver to insert cassette tapes of Wyatt singing Puccini. Although Johnson had promised to leave his wife, after a break-up, they had rekindled their relationship during which Wyatt had become pregnant and then had an abortion; resulting in her mother discovering the affair and reporting it to the press. Johnson was sacked from his shadow cabinet post by Michael Howard, not because of the affair but because he had lied about it. Boris Johnson is on record as describing her as "A better ride than a Pederson - plenty between the legs but nothing between the ears."

Wyatt's real passion in life is fixed-gear bike tricks. Her backward circles, bar spins and bunny hops; all taught by her equally able mother, often light up otherwise dull North London Labour party gatherings, and it is for this she has become famous on the London social elite party scene. Sadly her recent weight gain following her approach to late mid life, and the accident that disfigured her face have put paid to any sponsorship deals. Wyatt was quoted in Bicycle Weekly saying "I taught that Danny MacGaskill everything he knew on a bike, and the industry never thanked me for it." The Swagger Fixie bike is now safely in the garage and more time is dedicated to her other passions, such as trying to find porky TV Chef James Martin's tiny penis, knitting, biscuit making, Nazi loving and writing amateur blog-quality articles for the Hitler-appeasing national Shame 'The Daily Mail'.

Wyatt, whose hobby is singing and lyric-writing, loves to sing Cole Porter; and her party trick, which she performed for Norman Lamont’s birthday, is singing Lili Marlene in the husky tones of Marlene Dietrich. Wyatt devised and wrote a cabaret act called Kiss and Tell with the pianist and composer Jeremy Limb, the poet Lloyd Evans, and opera singer Melinda Hughes. It debuted at London club Volstead in November 2007. The show's popularity was measured, and somewhat short lived - it closed after just a few runs when the greater public realised that she is about as talented as a sea sponge, and that she should have stuck with biek tricks.

Publications

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

References

1. ^ "Boris Johnson sacked for lying over affair". The Times. 2004-11-14. Retrieved 2007-05-29. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
2. "I've been vindicated", The Spectator, 20 - 27 December 1997
3. "The Home Secretary's home truths", The Daily Telegraph, 20 December 2004
4. "Main in the mirror", The Spectator, 20 July 2002
5. "Women Like Seeing Men as Sex Objects"". Daily Telegraph. 1996-10-05. Retrieved 2007-05-28.
6. "Street of Shame", Private Eye, no. 1185, pp. p4, 25 May 2007 {{citation}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
7. Petronella Wyatt on Misplaced Pages, David Cross, 24 April 2007.
8. "Wicked-pedia: 'Why the online encyclopedia makes me want to scream'". Daily Mail. 2007-04-22. Retrieved 2007-05-28.
9. "The only dumb blond in Westminster village". The Telegraph. 2006-10-15. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
10. "Woodrow, Verushka, Pericles and Petronella: welcome to the world of the Wyatts". The Independent. 2004-11-20. Retrieved 2007-05-30.
11. "David, Kimberly, Boris and Petsy: it's showtime". The Times. 2005-04-13. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
12. "She's had voice training, dance lessons and a brand new dress". Daily Mail. 2007-11-05. Retrieved 2008-08-26.

• 1969 births
• Living people
• British people of Hungarian descent
• People from St Johns Wood
• Daughters of barons
• Old Paulinas
• Alumni of University College London
• English journalists
• English biographers
• English women writers
• Sex scandal figures