Lady Berry

In the novel At Bertram's Hotel, Old Lady Berry stayed at Bertram's Hotel at the same time as Miss Marple.

Derek Luscombe saw her at tea in the lounge hall and wondered how someone who was not very well to do such as her could afford to stay at Bertram's Hotel. When he asked the manager Mr Humfries about it, Humfries explained that he gave old ladies such as her a special price (although they didn't know it). It was a matter of maintaining the "atmosphere" of the hotel as an attraction to foreign tourists. Many foreign tourists, especially from America, wanted to see "the Old England" as exemplified by having a traditional English breakfast and meeting people such as Lady Berry. As Luscombe summarised, "These people; decayed aristocrats, impoverished members of the old County families, they are all so much mise en scène" for the hotel.