London, January 23: They may not immediately strike observers as man and wife.
But as the former wife of Boris Johnson is pictured publicly for the first time with her ‘secret’ toyboy husband, friends say she is ‘as happy as Larry’.
Socialite Allegra Mostyn-Owen, 45, stunned her family at Christmas with news of her second marriage, to Abdul Majid, 23.
Apparently they did not react with joy to the fact that she was tying the knot with a Muslim.
Controversially, she has suggested she would be content to be just one of his wives since she realises she may be too old to have his children.
Miss Mostyn- Owen who was married to London Mayor Mr Johnson from 1987 to 1993 after they met at Oxford University – has revealed her dismay at her father suggesting she had been ‘recruited’ by Muslim fundamentalists.
She is the only daughter of Italian writer Gaia Servadio and multimillionaire landowner and art historian William Mostyn- Owen.
She said: ‘My best friend rang my Dad to say, “Allegra is fine, happy as Larry, just a bit stressed”. Do you know what my Dad said?
‘Dad goes: “So when was she recruited?” He was talking about terrorism and Islam in one breath!’
She added: ‘He’s not ignorant. He’s just spent two weeks in Tunisia and he loves travelling around the world. It’s mad. Dad, of all people, is level-headed but he hasn’t got common sense.’
The reaction of Mr Johnson, on the other hand, was positive when he rang his ex-wife to congratulate her after she announced the marriage in a newspaper article describing her family’s shock.
She has never publicly revealed her new husband’s name because she said his family in Pakistan had no idea they were getting married.
The couple wed in secret last summer at a register office and later held a ceremony at a mosque, although she has not converted to Islam.
Miss Mostyn-Owen met Mr Majid in Lahore, Pakistan, at the wedding of a Muslim friend, Iftikhar, whom she met through her work as an art teacher at an East London mosque.
Back in Britain, their relationship developed over long-distance phone calls until Mr Majid came to Britain to continue his education, with Miss Mostyn-Owen filling in his immigration forms.
Miss Mostyn-Owen insisted: ‘He is not a tiny little person who wants a passport. He is private, charming and talented.’
Since 2005, Miss Mostyn-Owen – who has taken the name Mrs Dilshad Farha Raji Sheikha Jaan Khan Kali Gori – has been working as a volunteer, running workshops for children at the Minhaj-Ul- Quran Mosque in East London.
–Agencies–