The Queen’s closest friend and confidante

Press, 13 June 1978, Page 13

The Queen’s closest friend and confidante

By

GILLIAN FRANKS

The Queen will often turn for advice and help to the woman who for 50 years has been closer to her than any other woman apart from her mother. It is just half a century this year since the daughter of a Scottish railwayman joined the royal household as a junior nursemaid.

“Bobo” MacDonald joined the royal household when the Queen was two, and ever since has been her closest and most valuable friend outside the royal family.

Officially she is the Queen’s dresser, a job she

has held for more than 25 years, but in fact her influence and support extend over the entire Royal scene. Those close to the Royal circle say that the Queen discusses every decision, apart from those concerning politics, with Miss MacDonald, knowing I that her confidences will I always be respected. Certainly “Bobo” Mac- . Donald is- the ideal con- | fidante for the Queen — ' discreet and dedicated, yet strong-willed enough .to j defend her own point of

i view. She has strong opinions on everything and never hesitates to air | them. Now in her late sixties, her fiery red hair streaked with white, she is technically only a middle-grade member of the Royal staff but in practice her power

and influence is immense. Wherever the Queen goes visiting, Bobo goes too. On informal visits to friends the Queen will take her along as one of her staff of three. The others are a detective and a personal maid. Away frort the Palace, , the Queen always makes i sure that Bobo has a I pleasant room, that her | meals are on time, and ' that a colour TV is available. At Buckingham Palace i she has her own flat above the Queen’s suite, which includes a special-ly-carpeted bathroom. She does not eat. in the staff canteen, but her meals are i delivered to her room by a page. Like the Queen, she enjoys simple well-cooked food and does not drink or smoke. Bobo comes into her o“-n when the Queen goes on tour. For weeks before, she works with the Royal couturiers, arranging clothes for every function in the itinerary and what accessorie will be needed. Her almost ohotographic memory enables her to say immediately what jewellery will go with

what dress and what pieces must be worn. On tour she is in charge of the huge travelling wardrobes in which all the Queen's clothes are pack-

ed, and is constantly on hand to help the Queen change her clothes —

which she often does two or three times a day if the programme is full of official functions.

In fact, the Queen is not particularly interested in clothes and regards them mainly as a uniform for her job. Often she leaves it to Miss MacDonald to select styles and colours, and invariably approves of what she has chosen. Bobo’s influence on the Queen goes back a full half-century to the days when she joined the

household of the Duke and Duchess of York at their London residence near Hyde Park Corner. As a nurserymaid she taught Princess Elizabeth to sew and knit and helped her in the tiny garden she had been given in the grounds. At the Coronation of King George VI she helped the 10-year-old Princess with her specially-made robes and coronet. She did the job again 17 years later. But this time she was Dresser to the Queen.

After 50 years she is part of the family. She will occasionally join the Queen in her sitting room to watch colour televsion. They have the same slightly laconic sense of humour, the same love of all things Scottish, the same implicit belief in the usefulness and value of the monarchy. As a friend said: “So close is the rapport between them that it is almost telepathic. The Queen relies implicitly on Bobo’s loyalty and integrety. “The crisis surrounding Princess Margaret’s future distressed the Queen acutely and she had many long discussions with Miss MacDonald over the problems involved. Bobo is a walking encyclopaedia of Royal precedents. No-one has been in Royal service so close to the throne for as long as she has.” Yet to most people outside the Royal circle Bobo MacDonald is virtually unknown. She is the small bespectacled figure watching a ceremony from the deck of Britannia, sitting discreetly in a corner during an investiture, or organising the luggage when the Royal family goes on holiday. But to Elizabeth she is one of the few people in her life with whom she can safely share the secrets and burdens of being a Queen.