Mary-Rose trained as a nurse at St. Thomas's Hospital London, later working in the Royal Hospital, Portsmouth. Her career took a different direction in 1972 when she became the Public Relations Officer for The Portsmouth Festival, and was awarded Life Membership. She followed this with work in a London Concert Agency, and after marriage in 1976, she settled in Worcester where she has been a Family Support Worker as a Bereavement Visitor for more than 20 years at the local Hospice. She has also been a Ladies Committee Member of the Worcester Three Choirs Festival for the same period of time.