My life through a lens

Celebrities share the stories behind their favourite snaps – this week it’s Tory peer Baroness Trumpington, 95

1946

My work at Bletchley Park began in 1941, and we were sworn to secrecy. Employed as a cipher clerk, I had to transcribe intercepted German naval code – it was extremely repetitive and I was tired all the time. After the war I was desperate to get away, so I went to live in Paris and was then invited by friends to Quiberon in Brittany [pictured], to stay in a hotel on the beach staffed by German former prisoners of war. It was the most wonderful holiday.

1954

I married Alan Barker at the Chapel of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, which I still think is the most beautiful place to tie the knot in London. Our honeymoon was a driving tour through France and Spain, which was riveting because he was a historian so always had fascinating things to tell me.

2011

I’ve never been a very well-behaved Lord. I’ve always been too apt to say exactly what I thought. I was filmed sticking two fingers up to my good friend, the former defence secretary Lord King, when he said during a debate that people who’d served in World War II were starting to look ‘pretty old’. I’ve no regrets – he got what he deserved. It was a natural reaction and I didn’t know the camera was on me, but it did lead to me being invited onto Have I Got News For You.

2013

Horses and horse racing have been a passion of mine since I was a child, and on my 91st birthday my son Adam drove me to Newmarket. We had lunch at The Jockey Club and then visited a stud farm. We went to see their top stallion, the champion racehorse Frankel, who was unbeaten in 14 top-class races. Here I am giving him Polo mints out of my hand. It was a really thrilling moment.

1919

These are my parents Arthur and Doris skiing in Switzerland on their honeymoon. My father, an Army officer, had spent the previous few years in the Bengal Lancers in India, so he knew next to nothing about skiing, and I don’t think he much cared for it or St Moritz, though he was happy to pose for a picture.

1940

Ex-WWI prime minister David Lloyd George was a family friend, and at the age of 17, I was sent off to help the war effort on his farm at Churt in Surrey. This picture shows me, him and his farm manager inspecting fruit plants. I liked him even though the old goat did once take out a tape measure and try to take my body measurements!

1980

The House of Lords has helped fill the huge gap since my husband died in 1988. This was the day I joined the Lords – I’m with fellow Tory peers Lord Montagu of Beaulieu [far left] and Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn. At one point in the ceremony I was supposed to go down on one knee, but I knew if I did that I’d never get up so I did a sort of sweeping bow instead.

2014

I met Arnold Schwarzenegger at The Spectator magazine’s Cigar Smoker of the Year awards, and we got on very well. He was named cigar smoker of the year and I got a lifetime achievement award. I started smoking Woodbines during the war, and was on 60 a day for a long time, as well as the occasional cigar. I finally quit the ciggies a few years ago – but I still enjoy the odd furtive cigar!