Prime grew up in Sutton-in-Ashfield and attended the local grammar school.
[1] She began working in local government as a shorthand typist at the town hall in Kirkby-in-Ashfield in 1936, immediately after leaving school,[2] and joined the National Association of Local Government Officers (NALGO).
[4] In addition, she was a member of the Consultative Committee on Women Workers of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.
[1] In 1977, Prime retired from her trade union posts, but she continued to serve on the Royal Commission on the National Health Service, and also chaired a committee which set pay scales for TUC staff.
[5] Prime was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1975 New Year Honours.