I must also acknowledge useful reminiscences of the war years in Ardersier from Andrew Buchanan, Georgina Clayton, Carol Lindsay and Venetia Roskinner and more information on Patricia Medina than I had thought possible from Philip French. Anne Hobson shared her vast knowledge of Queen Charlotte’s Birthday Ball and Barry Swaebe guided me through his extraordinary photographic archive, covering 50 years of debutante seasons, with unflagging helpfulness.
It was a special pleasure to be in touch again with Jean Barbour and Margaret Blackstock, the two nieces of my nanny, Isabella Hughes.
Above all I am grateful to my sister Karin for remembering people and things I had myself forgotten and to my friend Karl Miller who encouraged me to think a book about the debs could be a good idea.
My thanks too to my incomparable agent Michael Sissons and, at Faber, first and foremost to my editor Julian Loose, to Ron Costley who has designed so many of my books, to Lesley Felce, Henry Volans, Katherine Armstrong and Donna Payne for their care and enthusiasm for this project. Also to Martin Bryant who copy-edited the book and to Diana le Core who compiled such an excellent index. My dear daughter-in-law Helen Mellor, as well as our picture researcher Amanda Russell, gave much appreciated advice and help with photographs of those now distant days.
Index
Figures in italics indicate captions.
Abbeyleix, Co. Laois 1
abdication crisis (1937) 1
Abel Smith, Mrs Alexander 1
Abel Smith, Mr and Mrs Billy 1
Acheson, Lady Caroline 1, 2
Addison, Joseph 1
Adelphi Theatre, London 1
Adès, Thomas: Powder Her Face 1
Aga Khan, Begum (wife of Aga Khan III) 1, 2
Aga Khan IV, Karim, His Highness 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Agnew, Penelope 1
Ainsworth, Lady 1
Aitken, Jonathan: The Young Meteors 1
Aladdin (pantomime) 1
Alain-Fournier (Henri-Alban Fournier): Le Grand Meaulnes 1
Albert (hairdresser) 1
Alexander, Tana 1, 2
Alexandra, Queen 1, 2, 3
Alfonso, King of Spain 1
Allen, Adrienne 1
Allen, Jean 1, 2
Allen, Maud 1
Allsopp, Hon. Penelope 1, 2, 3, 4
Altman, Robert 1
Altrincham, Lord (John Grigg) 1, 2
Aly Khan, Prince 1
Ambassadrices, Les, Boulevard Berthier, Paris 1
Amies, Sir Hardy 1
Amyan, Prince (Aga Khan’s brother) 1
Anderson, Lady Gillian 1
Anderson, Captain John 1
Anderson, Lindsay 1, 2
Andrews, Julie 1
Anglia Television 1, 2
Anglo-Belgian Club, Belgrave Square, London 1, 2
Anglo-German Fellowship 1
Anglo-Irish gentry 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Angus Ball 1
Anita, Mademoiselle (Paris finishing school) 1
Ankersimmons, Starr 1
Annacat boutique, South Kensington 1, 2
Annigoni, Pietro 1, 2
Anson, Lady Clodagh 1
anti-Semitism 1
Apsley House, London 1
Arden, Elizabeth 1
Ardersier, near Inverness 1
Argyll, Duke of 1
Argyll, Duchess of (née Margaret Whigham) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Forget Not 1
Arlen, Michael: ‘A Young Man Comes to London’ 1
Armstrong-Jones, Tony (later Lord Snowdon) 1, 2, 3, 4
Arundel Castle, West Sussex 1
Ascot 1, 2 see also Royal Ascot
Ashbee, C.R. 1
Ashcombe, Lady 1, 2
Ashford, Daisy: The Young Visiters 1
Ashley, April 1
Ashridge Golf Course, Hertfordshire 1
Ashton-Bostock, David 1
Asquith, Cynthia 1
Astaire, Fred 1
Astor, Lord 1
Astor, Lady 1, 2
Atholl, 10th Duke of 1, 2, 3, 4
Austen, Jane 1, 2 Pride and Prejudice 1
Auteuil, Paris 1, 2
Axminster, Devon 1
Aylwen, Lady: The Deb of the Year 1
Baader, Andreas 1
Baader-Meinhof Group 1
Bad Lord Byron, The (film) 1
Bader, Douglas 1
Bag o’ Nails brothel, London 1
Bailey, David 1
Baillie-Hamilton, Lady Mary 1
Balcon, Sir Michael 1
Balenciaga, Cristóbal 1
Ballantine, Miss Violet 1, 2, 3, 4 Dancing School, Herbert Crescent, London 1, 2, 3, 4
Balmoral Castle, Aberdeenshire 1, 2, 3, 4
Bardot, Brigitte 1
Barker, Eric 1
Barker, Petronella 1
barn dances 1, 2
Barnett, Sara 1
Barrington, Sir Charles 1
Bashir, Martin 1
Bassano 1
Bayliss, Jeremy 1
Bayliss, Hon. Mrs Jeremy see Bridgeman, Hon. Mary
Bazaar fashion shop, King’s Road, London 1, 2, 3
BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) 1
BDMW Associates 1
Beachcomber Restaurant, Mayfair Hotel, London 1
Bearsted, Viscount 1
Beatles, the 1
Beaton, Cecil 1, 2, 3, 4
Beatty, 1st Earl 1
Beatty, David, 2nd Earl 1, 2
Beatty, Warren 1
Beaufort, Duke of 1
Beaulieu, Drogheda, Co. Louth 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Beaumont, Hon. Matthew 1
Beauvoir, Simone de: The Second Sex 1
Beckett, Samuel 1
Beckham, David 1
Beddard, Terry 1, 2, 3
Beddard, Ursula 1
Bedford, John Ian Robert Russell, 13th Duke of 1, 2, 3
Beit, Sir Alfred 1
Beit, Lady 1
Belcher, Sarah Rashleigh 1, 2
Belgravia, London 1
Bell, Mary Hayley (Lady Mills) 1
Belville, Belinda 1
Bembridge, Isle of Wight 1
Bence-Jones, Mark 1
Benedictus, David: The Fourth of June 1
Bennett, Alan 1
Bennett, Frederic 1
Bennett, Isabel 1
Berkeley Debutante Dress Show 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Berkeley Restaurant, Mayfair, London 1, 2
Bernard, André 1
Berry, Adrian 1
Berry, Hon. Michael (later Lord Hartwell) 1
Berry, Lady Pamela 1
Bethune, Lady 1
Betjeman, Candida 1, 2, 3
Betjeman, Hon. Mrs 1, 2
Betjeman, Sir John 1, 2, 3 ‘Christmas’ 1
Noblesse Oblige 1
Beverly Hills, California 1
Beyond the Fringe revue 1
Biba 1, 2, 3
Biddulph, Lord and Lady 1
Biddulph, Hon. Robert 1, 2
Bigham, Hon. Richard, Master of Nairne 1
Bingham, Charlotte (Hon. Charlotte Mary Thérèse Bingham) 1
Coronet Among the Weeds 1, 2, 3
Bingham, Rose (later Countess of Warwick) 1
Bingley, Robert Benson, 1st Lord 1
Birch, John 1
Birdsall, Derek 1
Birkin, Jane 1, 2, 3
Birley, Lady Annabel 1
Birley, Mrs 1
Birley, Dr Robert 1
Bishop, George 1
Bishop, Tommy (author’s cousin) 1
Bishop family 1
Bistro d’Agran, London 1
Black, Melanie (Mrs Charles Black) see Lowson, Melanie
Black Watch 1, 2
Blackwood, Caroline Great Granny Webster 1, 2
‘How You Love Our Lady’ 1
Blades tailors, Mayfair, London 1
Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire 1, 2, 3
Blofeld, Henry 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Bloomsbury, London 1
Bloomsbury artist
s 1, 2
Blue Angel nightclub, Little Portland Street, London 1
Blunt, Sir Anthony 1
Bond novels 1
Bonham-Carter, Mark 1, 2
Booth, Colonel Mary 1
Borax 1
Borelli, Giovanni 1
Borris House, Co. Carlow 1, 2
Boué, Madame (Study-Home, rue Erlanger, Auteuil) 1, 2
Bowen, Elizabeth 1 Bowen’s Court 1
The Last September 1
Bowen’s Court, Kildorrery, Co. Cork 1
Bowes-Lyon, Lady Elizabeth 1 see also Elizabeth, Queen, the Queen Mother
Bowes-Lyon, John 1
Boxer, Mark 1
Boy Friend, The (musical) 1
Boyd, Gladys 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Brabourne family 1
Bradford, Sarah: Elizabeth 1
Bradshaw, Annette 1, 2, 3
Braine, John: Room at the Top 1
Bramham Park, West Yorkshire 1, 2
Branch, Nicky 1
Brand, Dinah 1
Bratby, John Adam and Eve 1
Nell and Jeremy 1
Brentford, 1st Viscount 1
Brewer, J.N.: The Beauties of Ireland 1
Bridgeman, Hon. Mary (Mrs Jeremy Bayliss) 1, 2
Bridges, Tom 1
Bridgewater, Alexandra (Lady Cotterell) 1, 2, 3, 4
Bridgewater House, St James’s, London 1, 2
Bridport, Dorset 1
Britannia (royal yacht) 1
British Embassy Church, Paris 1
British Empire 1, 2
British Legion Victory Parade (1951) 1
Brixton Prison, London 1
Brompton Oratory, London 1, 2
Brontë, Charlotte 1
Brook, Clive 1
Brook, Hon. Mrs see Hawke, Hon. Annabel
Brook, Peter 1
Brook House, Park Lane, London 1
Brown, Capability 1
Bruce, Mrs David 1
Bruno, Aldo 1
Bryce, Janet 1, 2
Buccleuch, Duchess of 1
Buccleuch, Duke of 1
Buchan, David, Buchan of Auchmacoy 1
Buchanan, Sir Andrew 1
Buchanan, Lady 1
Buckingham, Eliza 1
Buckingham Palace, London 1, 2 Afternoon Drawing Rooms 1
Ball Supper Room 1
decision to end the presentation parties 1
State Ballroom 1
Entrée Entrance 1
garden parties 1
Green Drawing Room 1
the last presentation days (1958) 1
State Apartments 1, 2
Bucknill, Belinda 1
Bulwer-Lytton, Edward 1
Burghley, 1st Lord 1
Burghley House, near Stamford 1
Burke, Helen 1
Burke’s Peerage 1
Burnbank, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire 1
Burness, Jennifer 1, 2, 3
Burness, Kenneth 1, 2
Burness, Petie 1, 2, 3
Burness family 1
Burra, Edward 1
Bury, Viscountess 1
Bute, 6th Marquess of 1
Bute, Marchioness of 1
Butler, Caroline 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Butler, Lady Eleanor 1
Butler, Richard Austen (Baron Butler of Saffron Walden) 1
butlers 1, 2
Butter, Major David 1
Byrne, Kiki 1
Byron, George Gordon, Lord 1, 2, 3
Cadogan Square, London 1, 2, 3, 4
Café de Paris, Bray 1, 2, 3
Café des Artistes, London 1
Calder Glen estate, Blantyre 1
Caledonian Railway Company 1
calypso bands 1
Camberwell, London 1
Cambridge Footlights 1
Cambridge Theatre, London 1
Cambridge University 1, 2
Cameron, Sir David Young 1
Cameron Highlanders 1
Camoys, Lady see Hyde Parker, Elisabeth
Camoys, Thomas Stonor, 7th Baron 1
Campbell, Beatrix 1
Campbell-Johnson, Virginia 1
Campbell-Walter, Fiona 1
Campion, St Edmund 1
Campsfield immigration detention centre, Kidlington, near Oxford 1
Canadian Third Corps 1
Cannadine, David: The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy 1, 2
Cardin, Pierre 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Carew, Lord and Lady 1, 2
Carey, Darel 1
Carnaby Street, London 1
Carrington, Leonora 1 ‘The Debutante’ 1
Carrington, Lord 1
Carington Smith, Ann 1, 2
Carington Smith, Rose 1
Carrousel, Le, Paris 1
Cartier-Bresson, Henri 1
Cartland, Barbara 1
Cartwright, ‘Buns’ 1
Casson, Sir Hugh 1, 2, 3
Casson, Lady 1
Castle Bernard, Co. Cork 1
Castle Howard, Yorkshire 1, 2
Castlerosse, Viscount 1
Castletown, Celbridge, Co. Kildare 1, 2, 3
Castletown, Lord 1
Cathedrals Fabric Commission 1
Cavalry Club, Piccadilly, London 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Cavendish, Billy 1
Cavendish, Lady Elizabeth 1
Cecil, Lord David 1
Cecil family 1
celebrity culture 1, 2, 3
Central School of Arts and Crafts, London 1, 2
Certificates of Presentation 1
Chandos House, Queen Anne Street, London 1
Channon, Henry ‘Chips’ 95, 1
charity work 1, 2, 3
Charles, HRH The Prince of Wales 1, 2, 3
Charles, Mr (head waiter, Dorchester Hotel) 1
Charlotte, Queen 1, 2, 3
Charteris, Cynthia, later Lady Asquith 1
Chatsworth House, Derbyshire 1, 2
Chatterton, Julia 1
Chelmsford Town Hall, Essex 1
Chelsea, London 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Chelsea Flower Show 1
Chelsea Pensioners’ chapel 1
Chelsea Potter, King’s Road, London 1
Chelsea Set 1, 2, 3
Cheltenham College, Gloucestershire 1
Chermayeff, Serge 1
Chetwode, Field-Marshal Lord 1
Chetwynd-Talbot, Lady Audrey 1
Chetwynd-Talbot, Lady Ursula (‘La’) 1, 2, 3 The Gentlewoman (as Laura Talbot) 1
The Last of the Tenants (as Laura Talbot) 1
Chicheley Hall, Buckinghamshire 1
Chilton, Margaret see McKay, Margaret
Christie’s, New York 1
Churchill, Charles Spencer 1
Churchill, Randolph 1
Churchill, Lady Rosemary Spencer 1, 2
Churchill, Sir Winston 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Churchill family 1
Cirencester Royal Agricultural College 1
Citizens Theatre, Glasgow 1
Clandon Park, Surrey 1, 2
Clanmorris, 7th Baron 1
Clarence House, St James’s Palace, London 1
Claridge’s Hotel, London 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Clark, Ossie 1
Clive, Mrs Henry (Sally Hunter) 1
clothes see dress code
Coal Strike (1921) 1
Cobbold, Lady see Stucley, Christine
Cobbold, David, Lord 1, 2
Cobbold, Lord and Lady 1
Cobbold, Peter 1
Cobbold, Richard 1
Cobbold, Rosina 1
cocktail parties 1, 2, 3, 4 dress code 1
duration of 1
escorts 1
family relationships 1
food and drink 1
receiving line 1
Coke, Lady Anne 1
Coldstream, Lady 1
Coldstream Guards 1, 2
Colefax, Lady Sybil 1
Coleridge, Nicholas 1
Colquhoun, Paddy 1
&
nbsp; coming out 1 photographs 1, 2, 3, 4
Commonwealth 1, 2
Compton-Burnett, Ivy 1
Condor nightclub, Wardour Street, London 1
Connolly, Cyril 1 Enemies of Promise 1
Connolly-Carew, Hon. Diana 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Connolly-Carew, Hon. Patrick 1
Connolly-Carew family 1
Conservative Party 1, 2
Constance Spry finishing school, Berkshire 1
contraception 1
Cook, Peter 1
Cooper, Alfred Duff, 1st Viscount Norwich 1
Cooper, Lady Diana 1, 2, 3
Corbett, Hon. Arthur 1
Corbett, Hon. Bobby 1
Corbett, Eleanor 1
Cordon Bleu Cookery School 1
Cornwall, Duchess of see Parker Bowles, Camilla
Coronation (1953) 1, 2, 3, 4
Cotterell, John, 6th Baronet 1
Cotterell, Lady see Bridgewater, Alexandra
Coulsfield Inquiry into Alternatives to Prison 1
Count of Clérambord, The 1
country dances 1, 2, 3, 4 1958 as a very wet season 1
location of 1, 2
number of 1
returning home 1
country houses 1 aristocrats turned entrepreneurs 1
transferred to National Trust 1, 2
decline of Irish houses 1, 2
demolition 1, 2
hierarchies in the country 1
house parties 1, 2
humour 1
increasingly impractical 1
and lineage 1
love of the land 1
opened to a paying public 1, 2
routines 1
sold off 1, 2
stately homes 1
traditional landowning families 1
war damage 1, 2
wealthy industrialists 1
see also individual names of houses
Country Living 1
court, the Prince Philip attempts to modernise it 1
and social change 1
Court Usher 1
Courtauld, Mrs George see Riley-Smith, Dominie
Courtenay, Lady Katherine 1, 2
Coward, Noël 1, 2, 3, 4 ‘The Stately Homes of England’ 1
Cowdray, Weetman Pearson, 1st Lord 1, 2, 3
Cowdray Park Polo week 1
Crace, John 1
Craddock, Fanny 1
Craddock, Johnny 1
Craigston Castle, near Turriff 1, 2, 3
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