Marina Wheeler’s mum Dip Singh and dad Sir Charles Wheeler on their 1961 wedding day
Boris Johnson’s estranged wife Marina Wheeler is in mourning after her mother passed away, MailOnline can reveal.
Dip Singh, 88, died on Sunday – the day after Mr Johnson’s partner Carrie Symonds announced that she was pregnant and the couple were engaged.
A source close to the Wheeler family told MailOnline: ‘Dip was not only the head, but also the much respected darling of the family.
‘The Wheelers are being totally dignified and focusing on the funeral and will not talk about Boris in public at all.’
It was not yet known whether the Prime Minister, who has reportedly infuriated Marina and their four children over his relationship with Ms Symonds, will be invited to attend the funeral on Friday.
Marina, 55, pictured with her estranged husband Boris during the London Mayoral elections, is mourning the loss of her elderly mother, 88, after she died on Sunday
The day before Dip Singh’s death, her son-in-law’s partner Carrie Symonds announced she was having a baby with the Prime Minister and that the couple are engaged to be married
Dip’s son-in-law Johnson, 55, said yesterday he is ‘absolutely delighted’ that he is to become a father again.
The PM and Ms Symonds confirmed they were engaged and expecting a baby, following months of rumours inside Westminster.
Asked about the pregnancy yesterday, he smiled as he responded: ‘Absolutely delighted, I’m absolutely delighted, of course.’
Marina, a high-flying lawyer, was wed to Boris for 27 years and has four children with him
Mr Johnson is believed to have proposed to Miss Symonds during their Christmas break in Mustique, but the pair kept the engagement quiet while his divorce from his second wife was agreed.
Their announcement was made just 11 days after his divorce settlement with Ms Wheeler was agreed in court. The couple had been married for 27 years and have four children.
Dip’s idyllic country home called ‘Garden Cottage’ in the village of Warnham, near Horsham, West Sussex, was shut off today, with the curtains drawn and a wooden gate leading to it closed.
The picturesque home is surrounded by a small patch of land on which animals graze and close to a cluster of other top end cottages, just off the main road that runs through Warnham.
Marina’s mother, of Sikh ancestry, was a well-known and popular resident and locals were reluctant to speak about her death, maintaining that ‘she is currently away.’
One neighbour told MailOnline: ‘Everyone knows Dip around here. Nobody has got a bad word to say about her.’
She married Marina’s father, the journalist Sir Charles Wheeler in Delhi in 1961.
She was briefly married to Daljit Singh, the youngest brother of Kushwant Singh, one of India’s most well-known writers.
Her former father-in-law is Sir Sobha Singh, a prominent builder who was once one of India’s richest men who helped build the country following the end of British rule.
Boris is believed to have proposed to Ms Symonds on the island of Mustique over New Year
Ms Wheeler met her second husband, Charles while he was working in New Delhi as the BBC’s South Asia correspondent.
Ms Wheeler’s family originate from Sarghoda, in West Punjab, which now lies in present-day Pakistan.
The state was divided in 1947 and her family migrated to present-day India, settling in New Delhi.
One of four brothers and sisters, she hailed from one of India’s most prominent families and kept in touch with relatives in the country right up until the time of her death.
Due to her ailing health, she has been unable to travel to the country in recent years, making her last trip almost a decade ago. On that occasion she visited friends and relatives in New Delhi and also the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the most important pilgrimage site in Sikhism.
Both Marina and her sister Shirin have also maintained close contact with their relatives in India.