Mary Killen’s latest book, What Would HM The Queen Do?, couldn’t have come at a better time. It has been – and continues to be – something of an ‘annus horribilis’ for all of us and as far as Mary is concerned, there is no better person to look to for guidance than Her Majesty.
“She is an example to us all,” Mary tells us from her Wiltshire home. “There is a temptation to wallow in doubt and self-pity during these tough times but this is something The Queen has never done.
“On the day her beloved sister Margaret passed away in 2002, for instance, The Queen fulfilled her duty and visited Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children on the occasion of its 150-year anniversary rather than cancelling in order to grieve. Throughout the visit, she was her usual interested self although she must have been so sad inside. But she put duty first as she’s always done.
“I can’t think of a better role model and that’s why I decided to write the book. The Queen is such an inspiration.”
Apart from HM’s devotion to duty, there are many more things Mary admires about our monarch.
“She’s famously frugal and is said to love a bargain,” Mary goes on. “‘She lives relatively modestly, sticks to a routine, knows her boundaries and stays calm in a crisis. Remember how cool and collected she was when Michael Fagan broke into her Buckingham Palace bedroom in 1982? Most of us would have screamed the place down. Yes, she has staff, which obviously most of us don’t, but she’s been an unchanging presence in our lives for as long as most of us can remember.
“The Queen provides us with a sense of stability which is very welcome in these very unstable times. I am a monarchist but I don’t know if I would be if we didn’t have an admirable monarch.”
Mary and her artist husband Giles Wood are two of Gogglebox’s most popular contributors and we’ve taken ‘Nutty’ and ‘Nutty’, as they endearingly call each other, to our hearts. They have been married for more than 30 years, have two grown-up daughters and seem very content with life. So, what would she say is the secret to remaining happily married?
“Part of it is realising that you won’t be happy all of the time,” she replies. “Marriages have their ups and downs, and it’s inevitable that when two people live together, they’re going to annoy each other – especially when they’re trapped in the house together as we all are at the moment.
“These days, we’re programmed to instantly change things if we’re not instantly gratified. It’s a bit like changing channels on the TV. ‘Oh, I’m bored with this – let’s try something else’. But unless things are really bad and totally insufferable, it’s terrible to break up the structure of what you have together.
“If you’re finding life at home with a partner really oppressive at the moment due to being locked down, here’s a tip I passed on to a friend. She likes going to bed early while her husband prefers staying up till the early hours. I suggested she retire at 9pm as usual and get up at 6am the next morning. Her husband doesn’t go to bed till maybe 2am then sleeps in till 11am. It means she has several hours a day without him being around!”
With Christmas fast approaching, we can’t help wondering what Mary and Giles have in store for the festive season.
“I’ve told Giles there’s absolutely no point in making any kind of plans,” she replies. “I have no idea what we will be allowed to do. We’ll just put our heads down and spend the time at home with the girls, I imagine.
“I love the traditions that come with Christmas. Giles, not so much. He’s a bit of a Scrooge to be honest and grumbles about it. Every year, he proclaims that we won’t be giving gifts. The girls and I say, “OK – you needn’t bother, but we are!” We don’t splash out but I like getting pretty presents that are useful. This year, for instance, I’m buying everyone a box file covered in lovely marble-effect paper. They can put all their stuff in there and it will be cleared away while still looking neat and pretty. I also like buying loved ones plastic beach shoes to wear for swimming off rocks or pebbly beaches. People love it when you buy them something practical.
“I hated receiving the joke presents that were so popular in the 1980s. A bra with three cups, for instance. What on earth to do with that? I need a bra with two cups, thank you very much.”
No doubt the family will be gathered around the TV this Christmas.
“Of course,” says Mary, who’s in her 50s. “These days I watch far more TV than I ever have in my life. There’s the stuff we watch for Gogglebox but we watch so many other programmes, too. There’s just so much on, isn’t there? But I try not to turn on the TV until the evening or we wouldn’t get anything done.”
Presumably Mary will be making an exception for the Queen’s Speech, broadcast at 3pm on Christmas Day?
“Of course,” she smiles. “That goes without saying.”
Just so you know, whilst we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this page, we never allow this to influence product selections.
