Still wearing his ring, the loyal widow of serial killer Dr Harold Shipman

Her hair is longer and greyer now but the face behind the wheel is unmistakable.

This is Primrose Shipman on the eve of the two blackest anniversaries in her largely solitary life - the day her beloved Dr Harold Shipman killed himself, and the day that would have been his birthday.

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Tomorrow marks three years since he was found hanging in his cell in Wakefield jail.

Had things turned out differently, Monday would doubtless have brought him 61st birthday wishes and a special visit from the woman who stood by the monster believed to have murdered up to 300 patients, possibly more.

Shipman's conviction in February 2000 for killing 15 of his patients forced him to forfeit his lucrative pension.

Then he discovered his wife would get a bumper lump sum and maximum widow's pension if he died before the age of 60.

So on January 13, 2004, a day short of his 58th birthday, he duly obliged.

Less than six months later, Primrose got a £100,000 payout and an index-linked pension of £1,207 a month, at taxpayers' expense, ensuring financial security for life.

Primrose, who refused to be questionedby police about her husband's murders despite working as a receptionist in his surgery, sold the family's comfortable house in Hyde after his conviction.

She then rented a series of homes closer to the jails in which he was serving his life sentence.

Now, aged 58, Primrose lives in a secluded cottage near Wetherby, West Yorkshire, bought six years ago by her loyal son, Christopher, for £59,000.

In contrast to reports of her reclusiveness, she can increasingly be seen squeezing her formidable frame into a small Vauxhall hatchback to venture into town.

Maybe it will soon be navigating the country lanes again if she chooses to mark her husband's birthday at the secret location where his ashes were scattered.