[2][3] Her father, Alfred, was a restaurateur, and her mother, who was born Yetta Wonsoff, was a Dutch immigrant originally from Poland.
[2] She had always aspired to an acting career, but could not afford the cost of attending Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
[2] In 1972, a painting she commissioned of herself in her forties (as a present for her husband) was displayed by the artist at the Royal Academy in London, where it was taken to be a portrait of the Queen.
[6] Foreign governments hired her to stand in for the Queen during preparations for state visits, to allow officials to rehearse protocol.
[6] Charles was a monarchist and refused offers she felt would be disreputable to the Queen as well as herself, such as declining to pose for a Playboy centrefold.