IN SEPTEMBER 1964 the Queen Mother journeyed north to Glasgow, where she opened the most modern maternity hospital in Europe - the Queen Mother’s, at Yorkhill - and visited Glasgow Cathedral. The Yorkill opening went off without a hitch: the Queen Mum, said the Evening Times, “won all hearts in her tour of the wards [and] was cheered several times as she moved from ward to ward.” One crying baby, his mother said, was “normally a very good one but I just think he wanted to give the visitor a royal welcome.” The Queen Mother also praised the facilities at Yorkhill and observed that a positive attempt had been made to break with traditional hospital design; nevertheless, she added, “bricks and mortar, instruments and advanced technical knowledge do not necessarily make a good hospital. Only the staff can do that.”

Later, she went to the Cathedral, where she was greeted by the Very Rev Dr Neville Davidson and the city’s Lord Provost, Peter Meldrum. This visit, too, went smoothly, though there was a minor kerfuffle when it was noticed that there was no bugler on duty. An urgent phone call was made to the secretary of the Glasgow T.A. Association, and Bugle Major William Cook, a storeman with the 56th H.L.I. T.A., sprinted home to fetch his bugle and raced to the Cathedral, arriving a mere eight minutes after the Queen Mum - and dressed in combat jacket and denim trousers.