By Graham Brown

A STORM of protest over plans to close the ‘Queen Mother’s post office’ has drawn support from across the globe.

Yesterday Mary, Dowager Countess of Strathmore, said the Queen Mother would have been horrified over the plan, which she fears could tear the heart from the village.

The dowager countess joined community leaders, businesspeople and locals in a show of support for the retention of the counter in the village shop, run by husband and wife Hugh and Ann Nicoll.

Glamis is earmarked for reduction to outreach status, a move campaigners say could kill off the viability of the local shop and place the community under severe pressure.

The village has had a post office since 1802 and the Glamis counter has seen a succession of royal visitors in its lifetime.

Princess Margaret’s birth was registered at Glamis post office but the registration was delayed because her birth certificate number would have been 13, regarded as unlucky.

Conveniently another birth took place in the village and her father, the Duke of York, later King George VI, was then able to register her as number 14.

Yesterday the dowager countess said the royal link was an important one, but stressed the modern day role the post office plays.

“The Queen Mother would have been horrified, she would be so sad because she was a very practical person and she would know that to have the post office taken away would kill the village,” she said.

The dowager countess added, “Glamis is unique in the amount of visitors that come here each year from all over the world but, quite apart from that, the castle and estate put an enormous amount of mail through the post office, as well as the successful businesses here, including an internationally renowned firm of architects.

“There is also the very important factor of the local population that it serves and for many this is the complete centre of the village—you cannot quantify that.

“The older customers who are not so mobile will have to go into Forfar where they are planning to have just one post office.

“When I first came here there were five shops in the village. I know that this sort of campaign will be going on in many communities, but Glamis is unique in the amount of visitors that come from all over the world to visit and without the post office it would be a dead village.”

Glamis community councillor Colin Smith said the group had feared the branch would be in the sights of Post Office chiefs and the campaign they were ready to mobilise has already drawn support from as far afield as the United States.

“We are encouraging people to sign a petition which has been set up but also to submit their own objections since the Post Office only consider a petition as one objection.

“Glamis has a population of around 1100, many of them elderly and we have already had around 85 individual letters of objection.”

Mr Nicoll said, “We have been overwhelmed by the support we have had from the community but unfortunately if the post office were to close we would also have to close our tea room because the business wouldn’t be enough to support us.”