Chelsea - Army Veterans Include Female Pensioners

Female army veterans become first women Chelsea pensioners
Royal Hospital, Chelsea, takes new step after 300 years

'One of the army's oldest institutions took the arrival of two pioneers from what some – but not old soldiers – might think of as the monstrous regiment of women in its stride today, as two female veterans became the first women Chelsea pensioners.

It has taken the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, founded by Charles II in 1682 for "the succour and relief of veterans broken by age and war", more than 300 years to accept women army veterans; though Dorothy Hughes and Winifred Phillips, both in their 80s, looked very far from broken as they posed in their new uniforms.

"I think it's wonderful," confided Phillips. "I like men. I am alone. And I wanted to be looked after in my old age."

By their side, the male pensioners on parade to welcome their new comrades were equally enthusiastic. Ralph Dickinson, in the Parachute Regiment for 22 years and at the Royal Hospital for nine, said: "I don't see there's a problem. Women can come anywhere now, even working men's clubs, can't they? They've served just like us. Of course, you're going to get some who grumble, but they're the sort who always do."'
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The Importance of the Thank-You Letter

From The Times
December 27, 2007
'I appreciate your gift more than I can say'
Thank-you letters: the last bastion in an epidemic of discourtesy? They certainly make a big difference
by Valerie Grove

Have you written your thank-you letters yet? Mother’s words continue to dog most of us for life. They hover like a black cloud over the season of festive giving and partying. We all vaguely expect a letter of thanks, but find them a crashing bore to write. Thanks sent immediately are thanks redoubled, we were told. “No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks” – Saint Ambrose.

The thank-you letter is a last bastion in what Mary Killen (The Spectator’s witty social problem-solver) has called an “epidemic of discourtesy”. The postal strike this year did its best to kill off the personal letter, but for my generation, whose youth was punctuated with billets doux and penfriendship, a letter remains a tangible, portable, idiosyncratic and expressive form of communication. Princess Diana – who would now have been 46 – was probably one of the last of those well-brought up gels, or “chicks”, who never failed to write enthusiastic thanks in her girlishly round but emphatic hand.

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The Sloane Strangers

Once upon a time, anyone in London who considered themselves well-to-do lived in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea – preferably SW3, or SW10 at a push. The King’s Road was the place to hang out and the locals wore a kind of uniform: coloured cords and a blazer for the men, twinset and pearls for the ladies.

Over the past few years, however, other areas have risen up the cool charts. Chelsea, with its pretty little townhouses and staid mansion blocks, has been left behind as wealthy buyers – Arabs, Russians and Kazakhs, in particular – have headed to Mayfair and Belgravia. Yes, there are famous faces living in Chelsea, but they tend to be less bling – think Jemima Khan, Ben Goldsmith and Heidi Klum and Seal.

Could that be about to change? The heartland of the Sloane is receiving a makeover, thanks to a series of new developments that will bring lateral living to the royal borough.

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