Remembering Royal Visits by Queen Elizabeth II
- 2nd October 2022
We have a wonderful collection which provides a beautiful insight into the working life of Queen Elizabeth II. Collected by Florence Bramford from Newington Green near Upton-upon-Severn who became a ladies’ maid to several ladies-in-waiting to the Queen, the Queen Mother and her sister Princess Margaret.
Florence’s archive
Florence’s paperwork is now held at the Worcestershire Archives. Included in the deposit are souvenir programmes and itineraries from visits by the royal party around the world, they depict the Queen’s busy schedule during visits to Germany, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and India complete with maps of the tours, information about each place, photographs of the Queen and her party visiting places, and examples of the itineraries.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at Breakfast during Munich trip 1965: BA13072 Munich 1965
Florence Bramford in service
Florence went into service at 15 at Ham Court as ‘under-ladies’ maid’ to the two Miss Bromley Martin sisters and in 1911 aged 18 she was recommended as ‘lady’s companion and dresser’ to a relative, Mrs Evelyn Martin, for whom she worked for 25 years. In 1935, Florence was invited by Lady Agnes Peel of Blounts near Reading, to try out as a ladies’ maid before accompanying Lady Peel’s sister-in-law Lady Delia Peel in 1939 to Buckingham Palace where she became Woman of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. Florence accompanied Lady Delia as ladies’ maid and dresser and she remained attached to the royal household for 30 years serving different ladies-in-waiting to the Queen Mother and to Queen Elizabeth.
Itinerary from the India Trip in 1961: BA13072 India 1961
The role of ladies-in-waiting
The ladies-in-waiting were generally in attendance on the Queen for two or three weeks at a time and accompanied her on engagements all around the world. They helped attend to the Queen’s personal needs at functions and acted as a companion to the Queen in a position of trust, while their own ladies’ maids like Florence ensured the ladies dresses and jewels looked perfect for functions.
Map of the royal party’s trip to New Zealand 1963: BA13072 NZ 1963 map
Programs and itineraries
The programmes and itineraries collected by Florence on her many foreign tours with the royal family show that the visits were incredibly busy. Each moment of a day was scheduled in, and days could be 12 hours long. We have highlighted interesting itineraries from India where the Queen had very full days, and photographs of the Queen and Prince Phillip from visits to Germany (at Breakfast in Munich) and New Zealand (at the races where the Queen allowed a child to sit at her feet). The Queen managed to look serene and offer a smile to everyone, from children to dignitaries.
Queen Elizabeth II and party watching horse racing in New Zealand (from visit previous to 1963): BA13072 NZ 1963 index
Looking through this archive was a wonderful way to remember the late Queen, and we hope you too enjoy these little treasures. If you would like to see more, the collection can be found at Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service in the Hive at Ref 899:1126 BA13072.
Please also see Margaret Bramford Books on Facebook.
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