Former Carter Nanny Mary Prince Remained Close Friends With the Couple

The Gist:

• Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter employed Mary Prince as their maid while she was imprisoned for a murder she didn’t commit.
• Mary and the Carters remained close and Mary occasionally babysits for the Carters’s grandchildren.
• Mary was ultimately pardoned for the murder she was accused of after a judge reexamined the evidence in her case.

The news of Rosalynn Carter’s death at the age of 96 on Nov. 19, 2023, has people reexamining many parts of her life, both in the White House and after. In addition to her strange photo with John Wayne Gacy, many have also focused on Rosalynn and Jimmy’s relationship with Mary Prince. She was wrongfully accused of murder and eventually became the nanny to Amy, Rosalynn and Jimmy’s daughter.

Now, decades later, many want to know what happened to Mary Prince, and whether she is still as friendly with the Carters as she once was. Keep reading for all of the details.

After working as a nanny for Amy while Carter was the governor in Georgia, and then following him to the White House, Mary continued to have a close relationship with the Carters. As of 2015, she was still living in Plains, Ga. near the Carters, and would even occasionally babysit their grandchildren.

The former president has also invoked Mary in several of his books and dedicated his 2004 book Sharing Good Times. He also invoked her in his 2005 book Our Endangered Values, writing that she was a good example of the dangers of both racism and the death penalty because she was arrested for a murder she didn't commit. Mary was ultimately pardoned after a judge reexamined the evidence in her case.

Mary was falsely accused of shooting a woman’s boyfriend after the woman got into a fight with her cousin at a bar. She first met her court-appointed lawyer on the day of her trial, and was under the impression that she would be pleading guilty to manslaughter, but actually pled guilty to murder. She was serving her jail sentence when she was chosen as a potential nanny for the Carters.

After an interview, Rosalynn became convinced that Mary was innocent and hired her to serve as Amy’s nanny. When Carter's term as governor ended, she was sent back to prison. Thanks to the efforts of the Carters, though, including President Carter’s insistence on being named her parole officer, Mary was allowed to come to the White House and work with the Carters for the entirety of Carter’s term in office.

Mary and the Carters remained close over the decades that followed, and it seems Mary was content to live a quiet life after she was pardoned. Even while she was still a convicted criminal, though, the Carters believed her to be innocent, and trusted her so completely that they trusted their daughter’s care to her.