1 Diana had finally decided to move to a flat in Paris.
2 John Selwyn Lloyd (1904–78). British Foreign Secretary 1955–60.
1 James Callaghan (1912–2005). Labour Prime Minister 1976–9. Married Audrey Moulton in 1938. Created life peer in 1987.
2 Edwin Bramall (1923–). Chief of the Defence Staff 1982–9. Created Field Marshal in 1982, life peer in 1987 and Knight of the Garter in 1990.
3 As Colonel of the 2nd Gurkha Battalion, Lord Bramall had a Gurkha soldier as his driver.
4 The party for the bookshop’s annual literary prize was held at Chatsworth.
1 Denis Nevin; the butler at Lismore.
1 Diana had moved to a flat in the same street as her son Alexander and daughter-inlaw Charlotte.
2 Consuelo Papasin; Diana’s Filipino housekeeper.
3 The main spare bedrooms at Chatsworth
1 Author of Diana Mosley, A Life (1999).
2 James Lees-Milne had died on 28 December 1997, in his ninetieth year.
1 Jean-Noël Liaut (1966–). Anglophile writer who first met Diana in 1998 when he interviewed her for a biography of Hubert de Givenchy. They became close friends and saw each other several times a week until her death.
2 Laura Waugh died of pneumonia in June 1973.
1 Michael Tree (1921–99). Married Deborah’s sister-in-law, Anne Cavendish, in 1949.
1 Robert Runcie (1921–2000). Archbishop of Canterbury 1980–91.
1 In 1935, the Marquess of Tavistock, later the 12th Duke of Bedford, was sued by his wife for restitution of her ‘conjugal rights’, i.e. resumption of sexual relations. The Duke claimed that he was justified in denying them because Lady Tavistock was having an affair with their son’s tutor.
2 The former Tory MP Neil Hamilton had brought a libel case against Harrods owner Mohamed Fayed who accused him of taking money in exchange for asking questions in the House of Commons.
1 A letter written by Lady Redesdale at the time of Jessica’s elopement, in which she begged her daughter to come home and blamed herself for Jessica’s unhappiness, had been found by Mary S. Lovell while researching her biography, The Mitford Girls (2001).
1 In her diary, Deborah had described her contemporary as ‘a tarty-looking girl’ who had gained a reputation for getting drunk and ‘playing the fool’ early in the Season. Three times married, Pamela Digby was famous for her numerous lovers, who included Aly Khan, Gianni Agnelli and Elie de Rothschild.
1 A revised edition of Chatsworth: The House (2002).
1 The novelist’s correspondence was published in 2000, edited by Zachary Leader.
2 The Prime Minister’s youngest son, Leo Blair, was born on 20 May.
1 Christopher Simon Sykes (1948–). Author and photographer.
2 Queen Sonja of Norway.
3 Federico Forquet, fashion designer, interior decorator and garden designer.
4 Jean Guéguinou (1941–). French ambassador to London 1993–8, to the Vatican 1998–2000, and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO since 2003.
5 Luc Bouniol-Laffont; chairman of the baroque ensemble ‘Les Arts Florissants’.
6 Hugh Roberts (1948–). Director of the Royal Collection since 1996. Married Jane Low, Librarian and Curator of the Print Room at the Royal Library, Windsor, in 1975.
7 Neil McGregor (1946–). Director of the London National Gallery 1987–2002, and of the British Museum since 2002.
8 Alan Shimwell; a long-time chauffeur at Chatsworth.
1 Juliet Nicolson had interviewed Diana for the December 2000 issue of Tatler and quoted her as saying of Hitler, ‘I was very fond of him. Very, very fond.’
1 Thomas Hardy, New Year’s Eve, the last verse of which reads:
’He sank to raptness as of yore,
And opening New Year’s Day
Wove it by rote as theretofore,
And went on working evermore
In his unweeting way.’
2 Katie Law (1960–). The daughter of Nancy’s friend Joy Law and deputy literary editor of the Evening Standard since 1989. Married Andrew Campbell in 1990. Their children, Nell, Archie and Constance, were nine, eight and five years old respectively.
3 A new edition of A Life of Contrasts, published by Gibson Square Books (2002).
4 Jasmine Guinness (1976–). Diana’s great-granddaughter had given birth to a son, Arthur Elwood.
INDEX
The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific passage, please use the search feature of your e-book reader’s tools.
Titles and ranks are generally the latest mentioned in the text.
Abdy, Sir Robert and Jane, Lady (née Noble), 466 & n, 503–4
Abingdon, Elizabeth, Countess of (née Stuart-Wortley; Bettine), 474 & n
Abrahams, William, 654, 669
Acton, (Sir) Harold: friendship with Nancy 9
visits Diana, 229 & n
speaking voice, 242
Deborah visits, 608–10
death, 740–1
Memoirs of an Aesthete, 146 & n
Nancy Mitford, A Memoir, 609 & n, 613, 629–31
Airlie, Bridget, Countess of (née Coke), 118–19 & n, 171, 377, 559
Airlie, David Lyulph Ogilvie, 12th Earl of, 119n
Albee, Edward: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, 380
Aldermaston March (anti-nuclear), 307 & n
Aldridge, Anne, 607 & n
Alexandra of Kent, Princess, 391n
Allen, Jay Presson, 668 & n
Allen, W.E.D. (Bill), 38, 75 & n, 77
Almasy, Count Janos von, 76& n, 97
Alphand, Hervé, 234 & n, 361–3, 462
Amende, May, 484–5 & n
American Weekly, The, 210
Amies, Hardy, 316
Amis, Kingsley, 798
Amory, Mark: Lord Berners, The Last Eccentric, 784 & n
Ancram, Michael Kerr, Earl of, 425
Andia, Marquis of, 794–5
Andrews, Julie, 442–3
Angelou, Maya, xv
Anne, Princess, 391, 765
Annenberg, Walter, 662
Anrep, Boris, 760
Anstruther-Gray, William, 46 & n
Antiques Roadshow, The (TV programme), 768
Aosta, Duchess of, 150–1
Arent, Benno von, 113n
Arent, Kukuli von, 113–15
Arran, Arthur Gore, 8th Earl of (‘Boofy’), 433 & n
as Diana’s close friend, 803
Ashton, Frederick, 703
Astaire, Adele see Cavendish, Lady Charles
Astaire, Ann, 304n, 384
Astaire, Fred, 30n
Asthall Manor, Cotswolds, 3, 699, 709–11, 746
Astor, John Jacob, 560
Astor, William Waldorf, 3rd Viscount, 399–400, 454
Aurore (Paris newspaper), 228
Austria: Germany annexes (Anschluss), 122n, 123n
pro-Nazi sentiments, 122
Aykim, Mrs, 379
Bacon, Francis, 503
Baglion, Count Jean de (‘County’): visit to Rome, 37
accent, 283 & n
and Nancy’s dresses, 335
visits Diana, 354, 511, 513
visits Deborah, 517
Diana lunches with, 526
and death of Constant Plantin’s uncle, 587
bridge-playing, 622 & n
death, 764, 803
Baigent, Michael et al.: The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, 683 & n
Bailey, Sir Abe, 740
Bailey, Anthony, 159n
Bailey, Christopher, 159n
Bailey, Dorothy (née Bowles; ‘Aunt Weenie’), 85 & n, 166, 170, 228–9, 278, 349, 410, 515, 772
Bailey, Edward (‘Fred’), 343 & n
Bailey, Percy, 86n, 166
Bailey, Rosemary, 700
Bailey, Timothy, 159 & n, 242, 463, 732
Balmain (dressmaker), 236
Balzac, Honoré de: Diana translates, 254n
Ba
mber, B., 16
Barbirolli, Sir John, 296, 313
Baring, Maurice: C (novel), 195
Barnard, Dr Christiaan, 505n
Barnes, Maud, 411
Barnes, Michael, 636
Baruch, Bernard, 256 & n
Batsford Park, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, 3, 699–70, 746–7
Baum, Eva, 68 & n
Bayreuth, 125, 128, 131, 134, 338, 516
Beaton, Cecil: portrays Mitfords, xv
visits Swinbrook, 156 & n
and Deborah’s wedding dress, 173
visits Heywood Hill bookshop, 188
romance with Greta Garbo, 227 & n
in Jamaica, 374
Deborah lunches with in Washington, 384
worries over wrinkle, 550
death, 657
Vickers’s biography of, 703
Beaufort, David Somerset, 11th Duke of, 355 & n, 452, 767
Beauvau-Craon, Prince Marc de, 219 & n
Beauvoir, Simone de, 414, 427, 587
Beaverbrook, William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron, 61, 69, 462
Beckett, John, 84 & n
Beckmann, Max, 112n
Bedford, John Robert Russell, 13th Duke of, 495, 497
Beecham, Sir Thomas, 466, 514
Beistegui, Charles, 274n
Beit, Sir Alfred, 81n
Beit, Clementine, Lady see Mitford, Clementine
Belfrage, Sally, 743, 745, 752
Bell, Angelica, 457 & n
Belmore, John Lowry-Corry, 8th Earl of, 685
Benn, Tony, 612
Bérard, Christian (Bébé), 310 & n
Béraud, Diane (née Peach), 776–7
Béraud, Jean-Pierre, 666
killed in car accident, 775–6 & n
Berchtesgaden, 127
Berenson, Mary (née Smith), 764
Beresford, Lord William, 389
Bergery, Bettina (née Jones), 339 & n, 348, 437, 453
Berghof, Obersalzburg, 125–6 & n
Berlin: Soviet blockade, 249n
Bermuda, 359 & n, 361
Bernal, Martin and Judy, 723
Bernal, Sophy, 723
Berners, Gerald Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron: entertains Mitfords, xv
runs horse in Grand National, 86 & n
in Oxford, 184
visits to Diana, 193, 205, 229
Violet Hammersley visits, 248
fainting attack, 249
illness and death, 259–60 & n
in Munich, 260
relations with Diana, 761, 803
biography of, 784 & n
Bernstein, Henry, 133
Berry, Lady Pamela (née Smith; later Hartwell), 313 & n
Betjeman, (Sir) John: friendship with Nancy, 9
proposes to Pamela, 35
marriage to Penelope, 53n, 298n
and Lady Elizabeth Cavendish, 180n, 298n
visits Chatsworth, 298
Snowdon imitates, 374
broadcasts on Waugh, 484
visits Diana, 665
Parkinson’s disease, 675
letter from Ireland, 680
criticized in review, 722
Betjeman, Penelope (née Chetwode), 53, 495, 691
Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex, 13
Biddesden, Wiltshire, 9, 33–4,118
Bigham, Andrew, 491
Birch, Nigel, 26 & n, 151, 184, 518
Birkenhead, Frederick Winston Furneaux Smith, 2nd Earl of, 330n, 331
Bismarck, Anne-Marie von, 622, 713
Bismarck, Count Edward von, 231n
Bismarck, Mona see Williams, Mrs Harrison
Blackwell, Blanche (née Lindo), 777& n
Blaikie, Dr Stephen, 567 & n, 609
Blair, Leo, 799
Blair, Tony, 799
Bleckman, Heine, 122
Blum, Léon, 227 & n
Blum, Maître Suzanne, 711
Boldini, Giovanni, 759
Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire, 680
Books and Bookmen (magazine), 604
Boothby, Robert (later Baron), 236 & n, 257, 271, 402n, 444, 581, 717
‘Boudledidge’ (private language), 14n
Boulestin, Marcel, 278 & n
Bouniol-Laffont, Luc, 800n
Bourdet, Denise (née Rémon), 221 & n
Bourdet, Edouard, 221n
Bousquet, Jacques, 225
Bousquet, Marie-Louise (née Vallantin), 225 & n, 239, 278
Bowen, Elizabeth, 296
Bowles, Geoffrey, 197 & n, 746, 772, 794–5
Bowles, George, 22 & n, 153, 202–3, 425
Bowles, Julia, 153 & n
Bowles, Madeleine (née Tobin), 22n, 153
Bowles, Michael, 500, 502
Bowles, Sydney Isabella, 99n
Bowles, Thomas (b.1934), 153 & n
Bowles, Thomas Gibson, xv, 99n, 618n
Bowra, Maurice, 361 & n
Boyle, Edward, 454 & n
Brain, Richard, 349
Brains Trust, The (radio programme), 308, 310
Bramall, Field Marshal Edwin, Baron, 789
Brandolini d’Adda, Count Brandolino, 436 & n, 467, 469, 520
Brandolini d’Adda, Countess Cristiana (née Agnelli), 511 & n, 673
Brandt, Karl, 116
Brard, Madame (concierge), 289, 474–5
Brazil, Angela, 97
Brenan, Gerald, 456 & n
Breslau, 130–1
Brett, Virginia, 559
Britain: declares war on Germany, 139n, 143
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC): Mosley attempts to have committed for contempt of court, 451 & n
documentary on Jessica, 629, 634, 636–7, 646
British Union of Fascists (BUF): Mosley forms and develops, 10, 36
Unity joins, 33
Nancy attends meetings, 34
anti-Semitism, 36
unpopularity, 38
Olympia meeting (1934), 46
financial difficulties, 84n
Broglie, Prince Jean de, 227n
Brook, Peter, 270n
Broughshane, Kensington Davison, 3rd Baron, 368 & n
Brousse, Jacques, 353
Brown Book of the Hitler Terror, The, 39
Brown, George, 501
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, 226n
Bruce, David, 391
Bruce, Evangeline (née Bell), 444 & n
Brückner, Wilhelm, 54, 64, 75
Buccleuch, Mary, Duchess of (née Lascelles Molly), 546 & n
Buchanan, Handasyde, 390 & n
Buchman, Frank, 84 & n, 109–10
Buchwald, Art, 295n
Buckingham Palace: Deborah visits, 232, 355
Budd, Margaret (née Cross), 742 & n
Bullock, Malcolm, 449
Bunce, Mrs (pub licencee), 172
Burke, Kitty, 498
Burlington, William Cavendish, Earl of (Peregrine’s son; ‘Willie Whitelaw’), 580 & n, 728n, 786n
Burn, Michael (Micky), 63, 65n
Buxton, Colonel, 157
Byng, Henriette (née Mabille de Poncheville Yette), 760
Byron, Robert: friendship with Nancy, 9, 27n
enjoys Nancy’s Christmas Pudding, 26
drowned, 181; The Road to Oxiana, 27n
Cabrol, Baronne Daisy de (née Harcourt), 284n
Cabrol, Baron Frédéric de, 273
Cadogan, William, 7th Earl, 303
Caetani, Princess Cora (née Antinori), 327
Cailloux, Joseph, 228n
Cairns, Hugh, 247 & n, 251–2
Callaghan, James, Baron and Audrey, Lady (née Moulton), 789
Cameron, Patrick, 13 & n, 284, 336
Campbell, Katie (née Law), 803
Campbell, Mrs (of Inch Kenneth), 368
Canada: Redesdales prospect for gold in, 17n, 19
Canfield, Cass, Jr, 298 & n, 334, 470
Cannon, Mornington, 196n
Cannon, Mrs (Mornington’s mother), 195
Capote, Truman: In Cold Blood, 455, 470
Care
y, John, 723n
Carlyle, Thomas, 286 & n, 297n
Carnarvon, Almina, Countess of (née Wombwell), 182 & n
Carnarvon, Henry Herbert, 6th Earl of, 450n
Carnarvon, Ottilie, Countess of see Losch, Ottilie (Tilly)
Carr, Mrs (Chatsworth housekeeper), 665
Carrington, Dora, 23n, 456 & n, 760
Carritt, David, 463
Castillo, Antonio del, 305 & n, 437
Castlerosse, Doris, Viscountess (‘Dolly’), 26 & n, 28
Cavendish, Lord Andrew see Devonshire, 11th Duke of
Cavendish, Lady Anne (‘Tig’) see Tree, Lady Anne
Cavendish, Lady Celina (Peregrine’s daughter), 562
Cavendish, Lord Charles: marriage to Adele Astaire, 30n
Cavendish, Lady Charles (Adele Astaire; ‘Delly’), 28, 30n, 304n, 385
Cavendish, Lady Elizabeth (‘Deacon’), 180n, 195, 218, 273, 298n, 374, 546, 622 & n
Cavendish, Lady Emma (Deborah’s daughter) see Tennant, Lady Emma
Cavendish, Lord Peregrine see Hartington, Peregrine Andrew Morny Cavendish, Marquess of
Cavendish, Lady Sophia Louise Sydney (Deborah’s daughter Sophy): birth, 293–4
childhood, 303–4, 346
Epstein bust of, 311 & n, 314
in Nancy’s Don’t Tell Alfred, 340
protests against childhood name, 340
encounter with Duncan Sandys, 366
talks to President Kennedy, 400
on noise from damaged car, 417
schooling, 421
Jessica sends toy guillotine to, 441
school examinations, 450
Nancy’s advice on upbringing, 504
on The Public, 510
marriage to Alastair Morrison, 656 & n
marries Anthony Murphy, 656n
visits Asthall and other houses with Pamela, 699
and Selina Hastings’s book launch, 705
Jessica advises on reading matter, 713–14
fortieth birthday, 779
The Mitford Family Album, 694 & n
Cecil, Lord David, 136
Cecil, Lady David (née Rachel McCarthy), 137n
Cecil, Jonathan, 127n
Chabillon, Marquis de, 233
Chagall, Marc, 112 n
Chaliapin, Feodor, 20 & n
Chamberlain, Neville, 41, 138, 147
Chambrun, Count de, 273
Channon, Sir Henry (‘Chips’), 23, 501 & n
Channon, Ingrid (earlier Guinness), 21n, 318, 338–9 369 & n, 456, 513
Chapman & Hall (publishers), 228n
Charles, Prince of Wales (‘Friend’), 541n, 583, 664, 726, 765 & n, 777
Chateaubriand, François René, Vicomte de, 587; Mémoires d’outre-tombe, 184
Chatsworth House, Derbyshire: in wartime, 190 & n
cleared and improved, 215
family returns to and improves on death of 10th Duke, 267
The Mitfords Page 78