she became director general of the national trust in 2001. during her tenure, membership of the charity, which looks after of land in the united kingdom, grew from 2.7 to 4 million people. she was appointed dame commander of the order of the british empire (dbe) in the 2008 new year honours for "services to heritage and conservation". in february 2010 she was a guest on "private passions", the biographical music discussion programme on bbc radio 3.