Platinum Jubilee: Royal housemaid will wear 1953 Coronation medal with pride

A former royal housemaid who was shown the Coronation dress by the Queen said she would wear her medal "with pride" during the Platinum Jubilee.

Williamina Frost, 91, who lives near Cambridge, was working at Buckingham Palace during the Coronation.

The day before taking the throne, the Queen gathered palace staff to show them her gown.

"She was so happy and so excited," said Mrs Frost, who was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal in 1953.

Mrs Frost said the Queen commented on the weight of the dress and took time to explain the significance of the floral embroidery, which included emblems reflecting the nations of the UK and some Commonwealth countries.

Mrs Frost - then known as Mina Scott - started working for the Royal household in 1948 at Balmoral when she was 18 years old.

She waited on tables in the Stewards' Rooms before becoming part of the household travelling staff, which involved working at all the palaces and Royal homes during a five-year career.

"It was exciting but very, very busy," said Mrs Frost, who had grown up in the fishing village of New Aberdour, Aberdeenshire.

She was working at Sandringham when the Queen's father, King George VI, died.

"Everyone was sworn to secrecy and told not to mention his death to others, especially the press," she said.

Her favourite place to work was the Balmoral Estate, she said.

Bumping into members of the Royal family, especially at Balmoral, was a regular occurrence.

"You know if we were going out for a walk by the river we often used to bump into the Queen in her old clothes," she said.

"She loved to go fishing with one of the estate men.

"We, of course, had to do the usual curtsey and step aside."

She said all the royals were very friendly and that "the Queen Mother enjoyed a good joke".

Mrs Frost said the Royal family would often invite members of staff to watch a film screening with them.

"We used to have the latest films which were shown to us in the ballroom," she said.

"The King and Queen and also Princess Margaret used to sit in their seats in front of us.

"I remember when the film finished, the Queen always would turn round and ask us if we enjoyed it."

Mrs Frost said highlights at Balmoral included the Ghillies Ball, given by the Queen.

The Royal Family, their guests, estate workers and their families would attend together.

"At the Ghillies Ball everybody danced with another, so you didn't know sometimes who the person was, if it was one of the royal guests or not. It was all good fun," she said.

Mrs Frost met her husband, Jack, at Balmoral Castle where he was employed with the Seaforth Highlanders.

She said he would stay at the back of the room during a ball, "as he had two left feet and was worried about stepping on any royal toes".

Her bedroom at Balmoral Castle had a special vantage point and she would often see the Queen and Prince Philip playing with the children.

"He [Prince Philip] was always running around with the children," she commented.

Mrs Frost said she felt "very privileged" to have worked for the Royal Household.

She left the household following the Coronation to get married and settling down in Jack's home county of Cambridgeshire.

Mrs Frost, who now resides in a care home in Bottisham, near Cambridge, said she would be wearing her Coronation medal at a Platinum Jubilee celebration with her family for the Platinum Jubilee.

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