In my September 19 Weekly column, I asked readers to help me find a woman I’d been wondering about for decades. I knew her as Georgiana Moore. Way back in 1963, when I was 14, she won along with my older brother Brian, the Phillips Young Mr & Miss New Zealand Contest. This wasn’t a beauty contest. It was an attempt to find the two most talented young people in the country.
Nine hundred hopefuls took part. Their academic and sports records were scrutinised. Their personality and ability to speak before a crowd was tested in regional finals all over New Zealand.
The two winners’ prizes were extraordinary: a flight around the world, an all-expenses-paid year at a US or Swiss University, a wardrobe of fashionable clothing, and an executive employment contract with Phillips, the chief sponsors. The prizes were so extravagant, it’s no surprise the contest was never repeated. But the only ever Young Mr and Miss New Zealand were announced as Georgiana Moore of Wellington and Brian Milne of Christchurch.
Georgie and Kevin’s brother Brian had the world at their feet
Tragically, my brother Brian was killed in a car crash in Kansas City, Missouri, while on his prize trip studying in America. He was only 23. Absolutely heartbreaking. What might have become of all his talent? Then, more recently, the same question’s been crossing my mind about Young Miss New Zealand, Georgiana. It was 59 years since she won. Yet I’d heard nothing of her and couldn’t find anything online. Had she gone onto greater things? Or had she left the limelight? So, in my column, I asked your help to find her.
Not long after that column hit the shops, an email arrived from Scotland. “Dear Kevin. An old school friend emailed me your article in last week’s New Zealand Woman’s Weekly and I have to confess, I was utterly astounded.”
Yes, it was from Georgiana Moore, now Georgiana Osborne, though she prefers Georgie. Extraordinary!
Georgie wrote, “I remember how sad I was at the time to read of the death of your much-loved brother, Brian.”
She remembered she’d attended a whirlwind of events with him after they’d won the Young Mr & Miss New Zealand, but then they went their own ways. Brian headed to the University of Arizona to study marketing, she flew off to the University of Lausanne in Switzerland to study French. “But I do remember that Brian was blond and handsome.” How gorgeous of her. And she was right.
Georgie with Queen Elizabeth on a visit to Angus, Scotland, in 2004
“So,” I asked Georgie, “how did winning the Young Miss New Zealand Contest influence your life?”
“Very influential,” she said. “It gave me the opportunity to make lifelong friendships in Switzerland and learn to speak French fluently.” Georgie returned to New Zealand and completed her final year at Victoria University before going on to teach French at Wellington’s Marsden School.
During that time, she met a handsome Scot, James Osborne. He was the military aide-de-comp to New Zealand Governor-General Brigadier Sir Bernard Fergusson.
They married in London in 1968 and have been living the last 50 years in Scotland, now on a farm in the county of Angus. They have four married children and eight grandchildren. Two of their three sons are in the UK, their second son in Los Angeles and their only daughter, Louisa, lives in Wellington.
My charming new friend agreed to exchange emails and her story gets more and more remarkable.
In her duties, Georgie spent time with Prince Edward
For 18 years, Georgie was the Lord-Lieutenant of the Scottish County of Angus, until her retirement three years ago. As such, she was Queen Elizabeth II’s personal representative there. Appointed by the monarch, the role dates back to King Henry VIII’s time when every British county had Lieutenants in charge of the local militia or armies.
These days, the role is more like that of a county Governor-General. The Lord-Lieutenant presents medals and awards on behalf of the Monarch, and supports the community by taking an interest in voluntary organisations and the business and social life of the county.
Georgie became the first woman Lord-Lieutenant of Angus and the first Kiwi to become a Lord-Lieutenant anywhere in Britain. My question was answered. Georgie had certainly not been hiding from the limelight. She’d most definitely gone onto greater things.
Georgie also got to spend time with Princess Anne
One of the Lord-Lieutenant roles is to organise the royal family’s visits to Angus. So Georgie pretty much met them all: the late Queen and Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Camilla (now King and the Queen Consort), Princess Anne, the Duke of York, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, Princess Alexandra, the Duke of Kent and the Duchess of Gloucester. “Sadly, I never managed to get either Prince William or Prince Harry to Angus. But I was lucky enough to attend William and Kate’s wedding back in 2011.”
Georgie would accompany royalty on their visits to Angus and obviously they got on well. I found a photo of her with the Queen and Prince Philip on walkabout in Forfar in 2004. There’s much amusement. “I can’t remember what we were laughing at,” she says. A diplomatic response? But it seems there’s plenty to smile about amidst all the finery and formality.
Georgie tells of an elderly marquess attending the Braemar Highland Games, “…a delightful but somewhat forgetful old man. He firstly tried to introduce the Queen to the Queen Mother – and then was heard to enquire of the Queen, ‘And what are you up to these days?’ To which Her Majesty is said to have replied, ‘Oh, still Queen.'”
Over the years, Georgie met Her Majesty at formal occasions at Balmoral Castle, Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Holyrood House in Edinburgh. “I wasn’t a friend as such, but rather her loyal servant. But Her Majesty was always very friendly, putting me at ease immediately. Needless to say, I was much saddened by her death.”
Georgie wasn’t at the Queen’s funeral – retired Lord-Lieutenants didn’t make the cut. “But years earlier, James and I were so privileged to attend the State Funeral of the late Queen Mother, Glamis Castle being in my Lieutenancy.”
Not surprising then two years before she retired, Prince Charles invested Georgiana as Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) at Buckingham Palace. It’s awarded to those who’ve personally given special service to the Monarch.
Three years ago, when she retired after her remarkable tenure, Georgie was presented with the Freedom of Angus as well as a unique gift. “I was hugely honoured to have two fiddle tunes composed for me. The framed music was presented at a civic reception and played that evening by a string quartet.”
So, what now, having retired? Much of Georgie’s time seems centred around family. Frequently she finds herself on “granny duty” down in London. Actually, her “granny duties” extend far further – to her grandchildren in LA and New Zealand. “We’re to be in Wellington for Christmas! When our daughter Louisa moved to New Zealand in 2004, we ended up building a Lockwood house in the Marlborough Sounds. Until the Covid pandemic, we came out every Scottish winter. You can imagine how excited we are to be coming back after a break of nearly three years.”
What does Georgie miss most about New Zealand apart from her daughter and family? “The climate! The long, warm New Zealand summers, swimming in the sea, barbecues.”
I wanted to ask what country Georgiana preferred, Scotland or New Zealand, but felt she’d already provided me with my answer. She’d ended her email, “With very best wishes from Scotland. It’s a wonderful country….almost as wonderful as New Zealand.”
What an inspired choice Georgiana was to be selected the one and only Young Miss New Zealand way back in 1963. What a superb ambassador she’s been since.
