Description:The picture is dated 21st September 1939. Arthur Rose is to far left and sister Irene Rose is the girl in front with hand on the grass. Irene remembers writing home to her mum to say she had been gardening with the queen.
The Duke of Beaufort who owned Badminton House in Gloucestershire was only too pleased to do his bit to help the war effort by having evacuees but was apparently less thrilled by the visit of his wife’s aunt, the dowager Queen Mary. At the outbreak of war George VI wished his mother to be evacuated from London. Although she was reluctant, she decided on Badminton. Her personal belongings were transported from London in seventy pieces of luggage. Her household, which comprised fifty-five servants, occupied most of the house, except for the Duke and Duchess's private suites, until after the war. Queen Mary annoyed her niece by having the ancient ivy torn from the walls as she considered it unattractive and a hazard! From Badminton, in support of the war effort, she visited troops and factories, and directed the gathering of scrap materials. She was known to offer lifts to soldiers she spotted on the roads. She also made herself useful around the estate as she was a keen gardener and she spent countless days tending the flower beds. Accompanying her in this were the evacuees who remember her as a kindly old lady, in contrast to the general perceptions and memories of her as a somewhat austere person. Perhaps this was the period in her life when she felt happiest and so was able to drop her guard.