Reader finds the lady

The old photograph, which fell out of a frame that Miss Ritchie had bought at The Colliton Street Antiques Centre 10 years ago, portrayed a lady in uniform with the words Love to Dickie - Xmas 1942' written in the corner.

The image seems to tell a tale of young love during wartime but there is more to the story than initially meets the eye. The woman in the photograph is, in fact, Lady Louis Mountbatten, and Dickie' refers to the Queen's cousin, Lord Mountbatten, who was known to family and close friends by this nickname. In 1942, the couple had been married for 20 years.

"Their marriage was not very conventional. They worked separately and lived separately," said reader Rosemary Collins.

Indeed, the Mountbattens' non-traditional marriage, great wealth and leftish politics seem to have elicited much speculation about their escapades.

"Her father," said Rosemary, referring to Wilfred William Ashley, First Baron Mount Temple, "was the grandson of the Earl of Shaftesbury."

From this side of the family came Edwina's inheritance of the estate of Broadlands in Hampshire and of Classiebawn Castle in County Sligo, Ireland.

"Her family home was Broadlands and her grandson has now inherited it," said Rosemary. "Her family was associated with Lord Palmerston and that's how Broadlands came into it."

She added: "She inherited a lot of her wealth from her grandfather, who was a banker."

Edwina's maternal grandfather, Sir Ernest Cassel, was one of the richest and most powerful men in Europe. After losing his beloved wife, Annette Maxwell, for whom he had converted from Judaism to Roman Catholicism, as well as his only child, Amalia Cassel, Edwina's mother, he left the bulk of his vast fortune to his elder granddaughter.

"Her mother died when she was quite young and her grandfather brought her up," said Rosemary.

After her father's re-marriage to Molly Forbes-Sempill in 1914, Edwina was sent away to boarding school at which she was not a willing pupil. To solve the domestic dilemma, Sir Ernest invited her to live with him and, eventually, to act as hostess at his London residence, Brooke House.

By the time Lord Mountbatten first met her in 1920 Edwina was a leading member of London society and by 1921, her inheritance amounted to £2 million, the country seat of Broadlands and the palatial London town house, Brooke House.

Ashley and Mountbatten were married on July 18, 1922 at St Margaret's, Westminster. All the members of the Royal Family were all present and the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VIII, was best man.

The couple went on to have two daughters: Patricia and Pamela. But for the most part Lady Mountbatten continued to live a fashionable and privileged life. However, at the outbreak of the Second World War, she acquired a new purpose in life and devoted her considerable intelligence and energy to the service of others.

"She was Chief Inspector of St John's Ambulance throughout the Second World War," said Captain Paul Compton of the couple.

"In 1942, he was Chief of Combined Operations," said Paul, who describes himself as an ex-Navy officer with a quirk of history."

"When the photograph was taken, her husband was probably away at sea that Christmas," added Rosemary.

Mountbatten's responsibility involved the preparation of the eventual invasion of occupied Europe.

But after the war, in 1947, Mountbatten became Viceroy of India with a mandate to oversee the British withdrawal. In this position Mountbatten oversaw the granting of independence to the partitioned India as India and Pakistan. Lady Mountbatten is universally praised for her heroic efforts in relieving the suffering caused by the violent disruption that followed the partition, her St John's Ambulance Brigade uniform contrasting with her official portraits in Viceregal grandeur in evening gown and tiara.

Following her viceroyalty in India, Lady Mountbatten continued to lead a life of selfless service. She died in her sleep of unknown causes at the age of 58 on February 21, 1960 in Jesselton, Borneo, while on an inspection tour for the St John Ambulance Brigade.

At her request, Lord Mountbatten buried her at sea off the coast of Portsmouth off the HMS Wakeful on February 25, 1960. He lived until 1979, when he was killed by an IRA bomb while on his boat, which had just set off from the fishing village of Mullaghmore, Sligo.

Although the marriage had been tempestuous with both husband and wife admitting to affairs, particularly during the 1930s, there remained a tender correspondence between the two throughout their adult lives. As for how the photograph ended up in this part of the world, Rosemary Collins says a Portland connection' would have brought the Mountbattens to the area.

Certainly, the couple were in Weymouth at the end of March 1957 - he was at sea in HMS Salisbury and she visited various naval and civilian organisations including the St John Ambulance Brigade. Mountbatten was also here in 1958 as First Sea Lord, addressing scientific workers at the Admiralty, Portland.

"I remember he was touring the different departments," said Angela Ford, who worked in what was Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment on Portland. "We were in the Tracing Office and we had to be on our best behaviour. He was not based in Portland at the time but, being an Admiralty person, he was going around checking up on things."

There certainly seems to be a Mountbatten connection with the region - there is a Mountbatten Close in Wyke Regis and, as local historian Maureen Attwooll discovered, a Miss W Mountbatten used to live on Buxton Road.