Prescott wife and long lost son reunited

John Prescott’s wife has been reunited with the son she gave up for adoption 43 years ago.

Paul Watton, 47, who is now a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Military Police, was born in 1956 when Pauline Prescott was 17 and single, according to The Sun.

They met again two years ago and Paul now regularly meets the Deputy Prime Minister, Mrs Prescott and their two sons Johnathan, 40, and David, 33.

In a statement issued by his office, Mr Prescott said: “We are all delighted that Paul has joined us and made our family complete.

“We have made this public statement and we do not intend to make any further comment. We’d now like to continue our normal family life. We hope the media will understand and allow us to do so.”

Mrs Prescott, 64, then known by her maiden name of Tilston, fell pregnant with Paul in 1955 when she was 16 and working as a hairdresser in a department store in her home town of Chester, The Sun reported.

She gave birth to Paul on January 2, 1956 and looked after him for the first three months, the paper said.

But, with her father dead, her mother struggling to make ends meet and society disapproving of single mothers, she placed her son in a children’s home.

In October 1960 he was adopted by Ted and Mary Watton, a school teacher and district nurse, the newspaper said. She met John Prescott, a merchant navy steward at the time, in 1957 and they married in November 1961.

Paul Watton, who The Sun says is a Conservative voter and a supporter of fox hunting, was awarded an MBE for his services in Northern Ireland and an OBE for his work in Pristina. He also served in the Falklands.

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