Mary Wilson

The rest ofyou seem obsessed with extra marital affairs

Sorry you feel like that.
I was taken by surprise by the vehemence of the reaction and inference that I had accused anybody of anything.
Will endeavour to moderate my language in future (or possibly resort to acronyms )

Samantha Cammeron was the perfect politicians wife, made public appearances supporting her husband .

Cherie Blair the most disliked politicians wife because she was as politically active as her husband , spoke out on women’s rights and was a QC

We all know what we think of George Bush and George W. but the Bush who best deserves to be remembered with respect was IMO Barbara Bush.
I hope this link contains her memorable Commencement address
-not I think what everybody expected.
ifstudies.org/blog/five-lessons-on-marriage-from-barbara-bushs-extraordinary-life
For anybody who doesn’t want to read the whole thing, I have copied and pasted what I consider to be the best bit!
When Wellesley students protested her as a commencement speaker in the 1990s because of her domestic role, Barbara leaned in and reinforced the importance of marriage and family in her speech, but then famously joked, “Somewhere out in this audience may even be someone who will one day follow in my footsteps, and preside over the White House as the president's spouse," Barbara told the graduates. "I wish him well

Apology accepted MB thank you.

I don"t think much of MW's poetry and wonder if she would ever have published if he hadn't been PM

That wasn't why Cherie was hated AB although some of the people who worked in human rights with her couldn't stand her.

William McGonagall was a widely published poet. He was also famously known for writing the worst poetry in the English language. Here's an extract from "The Collision in the English Channel".

TWAS on a Sunday morning, and in the year of 1888
The steamer “Saxmundham,” laden with coal and coke for freight
Was run into amidships by the Norwegian barque “Nor,”
And sunk in the English Channel, while the storm fiend did roar.

She left Newcastle on Friday, in November, about two o’clock,
And proceeded well on her way until she received a shock;
And the effects of the collision were so serious within,
That, within twenty minutes afterwards, with water she was full to the brim

Dire; but we'll published. Beauty in the eye and all that.......

McGonagall was regarded as a joke and only published in his life time through the generosity of friends.He performed his poems which were thought (and are) hilarious. He apparently never realised he was a joke.

I'm sure you right trisher but, nevertheless, he did have some devotees who lauded his poems. Whether MW's marriage to HW got her published more easily or not is neither here nor there. Once published, she became a very well respected poet in her own right.

Good grief.

We saw Harold and Mary Wilson when we went to a garden party at Buckingham Palace about twenty five years ago. It was obvious then he was suffering from dementia and she was wonderful with him, very caring. They were welcomed warmly by the Royal family, not surprising as I have been told that he was the Queen's favourite PM.

That was very much the essence of what I heard on R4 yesterday varian. She was always mindful of making sure HW was dressed appropriately and guided him through social events so that he kept his dignity.
Disclaimer: Before I'm jumped on from a great height, yes, I appreciate that 100000s of other wives/husbaands/partners do this too and they also are worthy of our respect.

H.W was very charming, a hit with the ladies! and yes, apparently the Queen was charmed!!?

I think any wife (or husband) of a Prime Minister must have a difficult path to tread. From what I remember and read Mary Wilson managed things extremely well and was much loved by her colleagues.

I was amazed to read that Clarissa Eden is still with us, age 98. Somehow that seems to take me back to a totally different era.

I agree wildswan16 if a PM's wife (or husband, as you say) stays in the background, like Norma major, they get made fun of on programmes like Spitting Image, and if they have a high profile career themselves, like Cherie Blair, they get pilloried.

Well said Ilovecheese

If someone has posted this already, I apologise, as I have not read the whole thread.

Mary Wilson’s poem on Harold’s death

My love you have stumbled slowly
On the quiet way to death
And you lie where the wind blows strongly
With a salty spray on its breath.

For this men of the island bore you
Down paths where the branches meet
And the only sounds were the crunching grind
Of the gravel beneath their feet
And the sighing slide of the ebbing tide
On the beach where the breakers meet.

I hope that Mary can now join Harold on the beach where the breakers meet

RIP Mary Wilson

If that is Mary wants to be, that is

where

Rather a lovely poem I think.

Yes, I like it, although I have only just found it today. There are many critics of her poetry but it's a matter of taste and this one is quite evocative I think. Although I've never been to the Scilly Isles I can imagine the scene and the place where Harold is buried.