They were the Kardashians of their day – six sisters who were known for their scandals as much as their privileged upbringing and beauty. The aristocratic Mitford sisters consistently made headlines in inter-war Britain thanks to their politics and private lives. As a new Britbox series, Outrageous, starring Bridgerton actress Bessie Carter, dramatises their lives, we take a look back at their fascinating histories…
Who were the Mitford sisters?
The six girls (and their lone brother, Thomas, the third-born child in the family) were the offspring of Lord and Lady Redesdale. The duo, affectionately known as “Farve” and “Muv”, brought their children up in what was described as “genteel poverty”.
“I am normal, my wife is normal, but my daughters are each more foolish than the other,” Lord Redesdale would say of his attention-grabbing offspring.
Nancy Mitford (1904-1973)
Perhaps the most famous Mitford sister in her own right. Nancy was one of the “Bright Young People” – a group of Bohemian socialites and aristocrats who dominated the London social scene in the inter-war years.
Good friends with Evelyn Waugh, Nancy is best remembered for her novels about upper-class life in England and France and for her sharp and often provocative wit. Her most celebrated books, Love In A Cold Climate and The Pursuit Of Love, depict exaggerated versions of her own family. Sadly, her own pursuit of love ended badly.
Unhappily married to Peter Rodd, who has been described as “irresponsible, unfaithful, a bore and unable to hold down a regular job”, from 1942 she had a long-standing affair with Gaston Palewski, a French colonel attached to General Charles de Gaulle’s London staff. He became the love of her life, although her feelings were never fully reciprocated.
Her own marriage having failed, she was devastated when she found out that Gaston had married someone else in 1959. She never married again.
Pamela Mitford (1907-1994)
The second Mitford sister enjoyed a number of romances but generally avoided the scandals that engulfed her sisters.
Pamela, who her family called “Woman” was described as the most rural sister because she liked to live quietly in the country. She had a brief but hopeless marriage to physicist Derek Jackson (who was bisexual and married six times). She would spend the rest of her life with Italian horsewoman Giuditta Tommasi, in Gloucestershire.
Diana Mitford (1910-2003)
A legendary beauty, Diana first married Bryan Guinness, heir to the brewing fortune. But her life went in a dangerous direction when she began an affair with politician Sir Oswald Mosley in the 1930s. Oswald was a compulsive womaniser and already married with children – his motto, apparently, was “Vote Labour, Sleep Tory”. Founder of the British Union of Fascists, he would become one of the most hated men in Britain.
After the death of his wife in 1936 and Diana’s divorce from Bryan, she married Oswald. Her second marriage took place at the home of Joseph Goebbels, with Adolf Hitler as guest of honour. Subsequently, her involvement with fascist political causes resulted in three years’ internment (shortly after the birth of their son, Max, who later became a Formula 1 racing chief) in a British prison during WWII – Diana had reportedly hastily stuffed a photo of Hitler under the mattress of her son’s cot when the police arrived.
Diana was one of few people in the world who was friends with both Hitler and Winston Churchill. Her relationship with Oswald and their political beliefs led to permanent estrangement from her sister, Jessica. It also resulted in a decade-long estrangement from Nancy until the mid-1940s.
Diana died in Paris in August 2003, aged 93. She had four children.
Unity Mitford (1914-1948)
Rather fittingly, Nazi sympathiser Unity was conceived in the Canadian town of Swastika, Ontario. As a teenager, Unity shared a bedroom with her pro-Soviet sister, Jessica. Unity’s side was covered in swastikas while Jessica’s was festooned with communist symbols.
Not only was Unity enamoured with Nazism, but her middle name was also Valkyrie, in honour of German composer Richard Wagner, who was publicly antisemitic and whose nationalistic music was embraced by Nazis. Unity attended Nazi rallies with Diana. She also and ventured to Germany to engineer a meeting with Hitler at a café he frequented.
She claimed she eventually met Hitler 140 times. It’s said his mistress, Eva Braun, distressed at their flirtation, attempted suicide to regain the Führer’s attention.
Unable to bear the thought of her beloved England and Germany fighting each other, when war was declared in 1939, she attempted to kill herself with a pistol given to her by Hitler. The bullet did not kill her but lodged in her brain. As a result she remained a placid, childlike figure until her death eight years later in 1948, aged 33, of meningitis.
Jessica “Decca” Mitford (1917-1996)
The “red sheep” of the family, Decca was a committed communist. She eloped at age 19 with her rebellious cousin, Esmond Romilly, nephew by marriage to Winston Churchill.
The couple moved to Spain to join the anti-fascist struggle against General Franco. They later moved to the US. However soon after joining the Canadian airforce during WWII, Esmond was shot down in 1941 and killed.
A distraught Jessica ultimately remarried and made a successful life. Her book, Hons and Rebels (1960), is an acclaimed memoir of her early years.
Deborah “Debo” Mitford (1920-2014)
The youngest Mitford sister avoided the scandals of the other five siblings. Marrying Andrew Cavendish in 1941, she became Duchess of Devonshire when her husband inherited the dukedom.
For decades, Deborah threw herself into life as wife, mother and duchess. She transformed the fortunes of the dukedom’s seat, the stately home of Chatsworth House, by renovating the home, creating extensive gardens and turning it into a thriving self-funding tourist attraction.
This story originally appeared in issue one of The Australian Women’s Weekly ICONS. Buy the current issue HERE.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
