One of the first Mary Quant models, Prudence Bury was part of Swinging London at its beginning. Prue appeared with the Beatles in “A Hard Day’s Night” before Mary sent her to New York to introduce the miniskirt to America.
A couple more tidbits from my first recorded conversation with Prue.
In this clip Prue explains why her father decided the family should stay in England after the war, rather than return to Belgium.
Prue had this funny comment about being a ballet student and seeing Moira Shearer.
I’m going to come out about something, so I can’t back out of seeing it through to completion. Not that I would want to anyway.
Thanks to WhatsApp, I’m working with Prue on her memoir. Some of the cultural references she makes are challenging. She mentioned the name Diaghilev. When I pleaded ignorance, she added the name Nijinsky, and thanks to that I found this documentary.
https://youtu.be/lmsR8eR2-MI
The video is narrated by Tilda Swinton, who played Dr. Strange’s teacher the Ancient One. Hah! So my Marvel Comics background isn’t completely irrelevant.
One of Prue’s earliest memories is of a German V1 rocket overhead in London. They were called Buzz Bombs or, as she remembers them being called, Doodlebugs.
I’ve asked Prue what she knows about this photo, but so far she hasn’t said. Such long hair! The Ferguson TV set is a British brand, so I know she wasn’t in New York.
Here’s an interesting photo I found, that Prue was surprised to see.
The caption on back explains the situation. Prue was the compère, or host, for the event. Note the reference to Noel Harrison.
In celebration of Prue’s birthday, here is an item from The New Yorker during her first few months in the Big Apple. The author took a rather bemused tone regarding the proceedings. I heard from Prue today and she’s okay, avoiding Covid in Spain.
To anyone familiar with Beatles history, just saying the name “Astrid” speaks volumes. Astrid Kirchherr has died, closing yet another point of contact into appreciating the most fascinating musical and cultural phenomenon of the 20th century.
Depending on your level of interest, there are plenty of places to read about Astrid, so I don’t need to go into any details here, but the most exhaustive telling of her significance is found in Mark Lewisohn’s book Tune In.
Here are some of Astrid’s candid photographs taken during the filming of A Hard Day’s Night, featuring my wonderful friend Prue.
Sitting around between takes, with Prue’s hair still pinned up by stylist Betty Glasow.
A few low-quality scans from the series that Astrid took, showing Prue as I know her, spirited and very funny.
