LADY PENNY MOUNTBATTEN
BRAND AMBASSADOR
Virtual work meetings online: 20 Exercise sessions: daily Friends called: Zoom/ Houseparty/facetime, at least 10 daily
Arguments: 1 Number of dog walks:
five times daily (dog exhausted)
LED light mask: daily
If you had told me when I got divorced 10 years ago that one day I’d be isolating at the family estate in Devon with my exhusband, his new husband and our shared mother-inlaw, I’d never have believed you. But I now find myself in the bizarre position of being in lockdown in the house where I was once lady of the manor.
It was actually my idea. The thought of being separated from my three daughters (aged 24, 21 and 17) simply didn’t bear thinking about. I knew exactly where I wanted to be. As we were all concerned about making sure my mother-in-law, Janet, Marchioness of Milford Haven (who lives in the next-door flat to me) was safe, it seemed to make most sense. I can’t pretend that coming back to the house I ran for 16 years hasn’t been rather surreal. I keep going to do something as I used to do it and then remember this isn’t my kitchen and I mustn’t interfere.
My mother-in-law is bed-bound. We’ve installed a phone in her room and she’s discovered the best way to raise us is to ring the main number. We all rush to pick it up and it’s always her saying: “Can I have a cup of tea?”
I’m planting a vegetable garden, something I never had time for. The greenhouse has been neglected but it has become my woman cave.