They rented a villa called Benclare at Gibbs Beach, which was perched on a hill with a sweeping lawn to the main road with views of the sea and a full staff. George and Pattie explored the island, played in the sea and enjoyed romantic dinners at night. “It was bliss to have George to myself, no work pulling either of us and no fans making life a misery,” said Pattie. “One day we were out in the garden and the maid said, ‘Oh, look, there’s the Queen of England!’ Sure enough, there she was, driving past in an open-topped car waving to everyone, with Prince Philip sitting beside her, head buried in a newspaper..”“We didn’t know anyone on the island and there were few tourists at that time, but gradually word got out that we were there so we posed a couple of times for the local press, and then the local dignitaries wanted to be photographed with us.”
