TRIBUTES have been paid to a florist who once made a model for Prince Charles and served in the WRNS in the Second World War.
Rosalind Hudson, who lived in the village of Wick, near Pershore, where her husband’s family have farmed for more than 200 years, has died aged 86.
Known to all as Ros, she began her life on the Wirral, Merseyside, where she developed her love of architecture.
The granddaughter of Walter Aubrey Thomas, who designed the Liver Buildings in Liverpool, Mrs Hudson also constructed architectural models. She began her studies at the Liverpool School of Art, but quit to join the WRNS, training at top secret spy base Bletchley Park and Woburn Abbey.
In 1945 she was sent to the south coast to help with work at the naval dockyards.
It was there that she met Richard Hudson.
One day Mrs Hudson was setting off for home. As she waved goodbye from the window of a railway carriage at Portsmouth station, Mr Hudson called out “Will you marry me?” She just had time to call out “Yes”
before her train pulled out of sight. The couple were married for 64 years.
After the war she trained as a florist, arranging flowers at Claridges and the Savoy in London, as well as at the home of playwright Somerset Maugham.
She also played the piano to concert standard and was a gifted and sensitive artist.
When Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer, Mrs Hudson made a model of Highgrove House – the Prince’s home in Gloucestershire – as a wedding present and later when the Prince wanted to add a new porch, she was commissioned by him to alter the model.
Mrs Hudson leaves behind her husband, five children – Henrietta, Charles, Richard, George and Clare – nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here