The Yours Members site has all the latest from the magazine, including exclusive real-life stories such as Anita Atkinson, whose love for the monarchy has led to her accumulating more than 13,000 items from portraits to framed napkins!
Every aspect of Anita’s day is peppered with royalty in some shape or form. She’s a staunch monarchist and has the world’s biggest collection of memorabilia with 13,289 items. Her love for all things royal started in her childhood.
“My mum was a royalist and would tell me stories she particularly loved, especially 1936 – the year of the three kings. George V died in January, Edward VIII reigned until December when he abdicated so he could marry divorcee Wallis Simpson, then George VI became King,” remembers Anita. “She thought Edward’s abdication was the greatest love story of all time. It sounded so romantic, I was drawn in.
“She also had a special cabinet filled with silver jubilee memorabilia from 1935. When anyone royal came on TV we would all fall silent to listen. We had a huge amount of respect for them.”
Anita’s own collection started when she was 21 in November 1976. On her birthday, the girls she worked with at the local fire brigade station gave her a double pack of silver jubilee playing cards with the Queen on one pack and Prince Philip on the other. She still has them, wrapped in Cellophane. After that she collected everything she could to do with the silver jubilee, from milk bottle tops with a royal logo, to keyrings, notebooks and even a football...
Read the full article on the Yours Members site to find out more about Anita's collection, including how she picked up an oil painting of the Duke of Kent for £40 from a charity shop which is estimated to be worth £60,000!
