FOUR years before the Duke of York acceded to the throne following the abdication of his brother, he and the Duchess of York arrived in Glasgow. The main purpose of the two-day visit, in October 1932, was for them to receive the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Glasgow University. The Duchess was shown round Mearnskirk Hospital, at Newton Mearns, where she saw the efforts that Glasgow Corporation’s health department was putting into treating children, aged up to 15, who were suffering from various forms of TB. Lord Provost Sir Thomas Kelly told her that she would receive a very warm welcome from the young patients and that “they would remember all their lives her grandiose act in visiting them.” The Duchess herself said in a speech that “in these open-air pavilions, built to catch every ray of sunshine, the patients certainly have every chance to recover.” Later, shielded from the rain by an umbrella carried by Dr Wilson, medical superintendent of the hospital, she planted an oak tree to commemorate her visit.

Later, as she was leaving the Royal Maternity Hospital at Rottenrow, two bearers rushed past her, taking a stretcher case into the hospital. The Duchess tried to speak words of comfort to the patient but the bearers had already disappeared through a crowd of nurses. She kept her gaze on them, and those nearby heard her audible murmur of “Poor thing.”