The Mitfords
Page 85
becomes US citizen, 196
bids to buy out Inch Kenneth, 206, 313n
and Unity’s death, 211
attempts to leave share of Inch Kenneth to Communist Party, 213, 266
mother visits in USA, 213–14, 245, 565
renews relations with Nancy, 214
works for Civil Rights Congress, 214, 265
dress, 234, 238, 268
mother-in-law complains of, 249
and death of son Nicholas, 265, 643
leaves Communist Party but retains belief in communism, 265
visit to Europe (1955), 265–6, 284–90
excluded from father’s will, 266, 307n
family makes annual allowance to, 266
inheritance from Romilly, 266
plans and cancels trip to Europe (1950), 269–70
Deborah visits in USA, 274–6
appearance, 284–5
depicted as Jassy in Nancy’s novels, 286n
plans 1957 visit to England, 295 & n
visit from USA (1959), 315n, 317
moves in Oakland, 349
on embalming and funerary practices, 367–8
visits Deborah (1962), 369
visit to mother on Inch Kenneth, 371 & n, 379
on mother, 376, 379
claims unhappy childhood, 377
on mother’s death, 396–7
on Kennedy’s assassination, 404
at celebration lunch for publication of book, 418
literary earnings, 418
buys Dior outfit, 419
article on Reagan declined, 428
journalism, 428, 435, 443, 703–4
sends toy guillotine to Sophy Cavendish, 441
visits Hawaii, 442
and disposal of Inch Kenneth, 467–8 & n, 663
Nancy corresponds with over childhood, 480
meets Diana before Nancy’s death, 481
writing career and reputation, 481, 604
reaction to Constancia’s baby with Forman, 485–8, 490–1, 493
visits Nancy in Versailles, 492
in Mexico, 507
solicitude for Nancy’s illness, 529–30
visit to sick Nancy, 532–3, 536
favours telling Nancy nature of illness, 537–8
writes on American prison system, 549 & n, 551, 575–75
offers to visit Nancy, 552–3, 563, 575, 588
admits to loathing mother when young, 555–6, 559
denied schooling as child, 555–6
aspires to be scientist, 556, 564
in Observer interview with Nancy, 572–5
cares for dying Nancy, 589–94, 598, 609
letters from Diana, 595 & n
on book promotion tour, 598
university teaching, 598 & n, 616
differences with sisters, 603, 626–30, 633–5, 638–9, 649
helps Pryce-Jones with biography of Unity, 603, 605, 624–7, 633–4, 637
visit to England (1974), 605
recipe for salmon, 625
suspected and cleared over lost family scrapbook, 626–7, 634, 645–6, 648–9, 704
BBC film on, 629–30, 634, 636–7, 646
visit to England (1976), 635–6
on archaeological trip to Egypt, 646
in television film about Nancy, 657, 670
denies Tom being a Fascist, 661
burgled, 696
on Selina Hastings’s biography of Nancy, 702
and husband’s infidelity, 703 & n
advises Sophia Cavendish on reading matter, 713–14
seventieth birthday, 719
Deborah accuses of misrepresentation, 728
lameness, 734
reads Love from Nancy proofs, 735–6
fiftieth wedding anniversary, 736
seventy-fifth birthday, 741
proposes own funeral arrangements, 751
death, 755, 772n, 773–4
gives up drinking and smoking, 755, 757
onset of cancer, 767–72
funeral, 770
The American Way of Birth, 604, 724–5
The American Way of Death, 325, 363, 367–8, 382, 418, 481
The American Way of Death Revisited (completed by Robert), 770n
Faces of Philip, 167n, 604
A Fine Old Conflict, 147, 281n, 557n, 604, 641 & n, 650
Grace Had an English Heart, 604, 607n
Hons and Rebels (as Daughters and Rebels in USA), 11, 17n, 41, 81n, 147, 211, 295 & n, 312 & n, 325, 328–33, 335, 376, 379, 548, 562, 565, 624, 626n, 627, 631, 634
proposed film, 669n
Kind and Usual Punishment, 481, 550n, 598
Lifeitselfmanship, 325; ‘Maine Chance Diary’, 35n
The Making of a Muckraker (collection), 435n, 604
The Trial of Dr Spock, 481, 507 & n, 543 & n
Treuhaft, Nicholas Tito (Jessica’s son): birth, 197
childhood in USA, 207
name, 250
killed in bicycle accident, 265, 643
and mother’s planned 1950 visit to Europe, 269
Deborah meets in USA, 276
Treuhaft, Robert: Jessica meets and marries, 148,191 & n
children, 197, 241
law work in Oakland, California, 214
Lady Redesdale praises, 245
communism, 250
condemned by Joseph McCarthy, 265
and Deborah’s visit to USA, 276
appearance, 285, 287
visit to Europe (1955), 285, 287–9
in Paris, 419–20
reaction to Constancia’s pregnancy, 485–7
criticizes CIA, 491
in Mexico, 507
encourages Jessica to visit dying Nancy, 532, 594
conducts affair, 704n
knée-replacement operation, 731–3
fiftieth wedding anniversary, 736
eightieth birthday, 741
and Jessica’s illness and death, 771, 773
Trollope, Anthony: The Way We Live Now, 613
Troost, Gerdy, 127 & n
Troost, Paul Ludwig, 128n
Truth (magazine), 197
Tschammer-Osten, Hans von, 130 & n
Tullamaine Castle, County Tipperary, 214, 301, 310, 324, 748–9
Turnell, Martin: The Novel in France, 272
Tvede, Dolores (née Radziwill; ‘Dolly’), 270–1, 525
Tvede, Mogens, 270–1, 535, 568, 585, 607, 613
Twigg (Irish hunt secretary), 780
Tynan, Kenneth, 438, 447, 471n
U and non-U: Nancy’s article on, 263, 286n
Udy, Guillermo de, 207n
Uganda, 374, 382
Union Movement, 32, 213, 245n, 382n, 452n
United States of America: Jessica and Esmond visit, 41
Nancy’s hostility to, 199–200, 295, 305, 360–1, 363, 471, 549
Deborah visits, 359, 705–6, 714, 720
Jessica criticizes in writings, 481
University College London, 14 & n
Urquhart, Major-General Robert Elliott and Pamela (née Condon), 308 & n
Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Lady Mari, 71n
Vanguard (magazine), 49
Vanity Fair (weekly magazine), xv
Vendôme, Duchesse de, 244
Venice, 272–3, 314, 317, 338, 356, 372, 399, 436, 465, 513–14
Verdura, Fulco Santostefano della Cerda, Duke of, 465
Versailles: Nancy moves to, 426, 457–8, 463, 473, 479, 483–4
Nancy’s garden and wildlife, 489, 497, 499–500, 509
Vestey, Celia, Lady (née Knight), 731 & n
Vickers, Hugo: Cecil Beaton, 703
Vidal, Gore, 642
Vietnam War, 469, 507–8
Vilmorin, Louise de, 459 & n, 585
Voltaire, François Marie Arouet, 380
Wagner, Adolf, 78–80, 126
Wagner, Gerhardt, 130 & n
Wagner, Richard, 516
Wagner, Siegfried, 133n, 516
Wagner, Winifre
d (née Williams), 131–2 & n, 338, 516
Wakefield, Sir Humphry, 715
Walker-Okeover, Sir Ian, 568
Walton, Sir William, 319
Warner, Marina, 685
Watkins, Sidney, 675n, 678, 681, 684
Watney, Oliver (‘Togo’), 7, 13 & n, 17n, 34, 223n, 698n
Watson (Mosleys’ tutor), 251, 253
Watson, Peter (‘Hog’), 237 & n, 242, 761
Waugh, Auberon, 764
Waugh, Evelyn: friendship with Mitfords, xv
friendship with Nancy, 9, 253
marriage to Evelyn Gardner and divorce, 18n
correspondence with Nancy Mitford, 45n, 759 & n
proposes reissuing Nancy’s books on Stanleys of Alderley, 228
Time article on, 251
visits Nancy in Paris, 268
writes on Nancy’s U-book, 288
manner, 297
as Nancy’s literary mentor, 297n
visits Deborah, 297–8
value of letters, 390
pessimism, 429
death and obituaries, 458 & n
jealousy of Diana’s friends, 459
refuses honour, 482 & n, 578
Betjeman on, 484–5
and Nancy’s view on boring old people, 550
Selina Hastings writes biography, 757
Diana on behaviour, 791–2
ends friendship with Diana, 803
Brideshead Revisited, 217 & n, 711n
Letters (ed. Mark Amory), 668
The Life of … Ronald Knox, 320n
Love Among the Ruins, 759
The Loved One, 251n, 441, 630n
Work in Progress, 459–60
Waugh, Evelyn (née Gardner; ‘She-Evelyn’), 18 & n, 251
Waugh, Laura, 459, 792
Weber, Terry, 662, 736
Weill, Kurt, 762n
Weizmann, Chaim: Trial and Error, 256 & n
Wellesley, Lady Elizabeth, 100
Wellington, Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of, 467, 474–5
Werlin, Jakob, 54, 68, 127
Wernher, Sir Harold and Zia, Lady, 92n, 93
Wessel, Horst, 52 & n, 132
West, James, 476 & n
Westminster, Sally, Duchess of (née Perry), 443
Weymouth, Alexander George Thynne, Viscount, 466 & n
Whitehead, Phillip, 756
Widmann, Erich, 63, 65 & n, 69 & n
Wiedemann, Fritz, 77, 115 & n
Wieland, Christof Martin, 193
Wilde, Dolly, 87, 176
Willes, Margaret, 662, 694
Williams, Mrs Harrison (née Mona Travis Strader; then Countess Bismarck), 231 & n, 585
Williams, Mrs Hwufa, 657
Williamson, Henry, 501
Wilshaw, Arturo Lopez, 305n
Wilson, A.N. (Andrew), 762, 787
Wilson, Harold, 404, 422
Wilson, Sir Matthew (Martin), 354
Wilson, Peter, 444
Windsor, Edward, Duke of (earlier King Edward VIII), 91, 221, 234n, 462–3 & n, 663n, 665
death, 581–2
Windsor, Wallis, Duchess of: xv, 91n, 221, 234n, 463n, 581–3, 585, 604, 622, 666n
death and funeral, 711–13
Winn, Elizabeth, 273, 341n, 656, 687
Woburn Abbey, 495
Wolfson, Sir Isaac, 370
Wollner, Georg, 128, 130, 132
Women’s Institute, 273 & n, 303, 358, 446
Woodfield House, near Cirencester, 324, 480, 587–8, 603, 642
Woodisse, Mary, 70 & n
Woolvern, Mabel, 199, 306, 493, 623
Wootton Lodge, Staffordshire, 35, 80n
Wragg, Tom, 436 & n
Wrede, Princess Carmen von, 111 & n
Wrede, Princess Edda von, 111 & n
Wrench, Pamela see Chichester, Pamela
Wright, Margaret (later Dance), 143, 165, 202 & n, 211, 248, 270, 279, 300
Wrightsman, Charles, 496 & n
Wrightsman, Jayne (née Larkin), 496 & n, 767, 777, 79
Wyatt, Woodrow, 418
Wychwood (school), Oxford, 51n
Wyndham, Ingrid see Channon, Ingrid
Wyndham, Mark and Anne (née Winn), 615
York, Prince Andrew, Duke of, 787
York, Sarah, Duchess of (née Ferguson; ‘Fergie’), 787
Yorke, Adelaide (née Biddulph; ‘Dig’), 28n, 761
Yorke, Henry (‘Henry Green’): friendship with Nancy, 9, 28 & n
asks to visit Diana in prison, 187, 189
in Evelyn Waugh letters, 668
friendship wth Diana, 761
Nothing (by Henry Green), 268
Ziegler, Philip: biography of Lady Diana Cooper, 673 & n
biography of Osbert Sitwell, 787
Zipkin, Jerome, 706
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My greatest debt of gratitude is to Deborah Devonshire, the last surviving Mitford sister, and to the late Diana Mosley, who allowed me unrestricted access to their correspondence, some of which they had not seen for eighty years. Their encouragement and help has been invaluable. I am also very grateful to Constancia Romilly and Benjamin Treuhaft, Jessica Mitford’s children, for their generous cooperation.
I am lastingly indebted to Helen Marchant who, with the help of Andrew Peppitt, undertook the Herculean task of photocopying the letters at Chatsworth, which enabled me to work in conditions rarely afforded to an editor. I am also grateful to the following: Emma Tennant and her husband Eddie for their help in sorting the letters; Anne Pauline de Castries for her typing skills and encouragement; Jonathan Moyne for reading the manuscript and clarifying some obscure references; Elva Griffiths and Geoffrey Smith of Rare Books and Manuscripts at Ohio State University Libraries for their assistance; Diane Naylor, Chatsworth Photo Librarian; Gill Coleridge, my agent; and Courtney Hodell, my editor, for her perceptive observations.
I would like to thank the Rare Books and Manuscripts at Ohio State University Libraries for the use of Jessica’s letters.
The following also kindly gave me their time, help or ideas: Lee and Emily Brown, Manuel Burrus, Simon Courtauld, Peter Day, Emmanuel Ducamp, Desmond Guinness, Peggy and Sebastian Guinness, Simon Head, Catherine Hesketh, Jean-Noël Liaut, Mary S. Lovell, Peter Miller, Rosaleen Mulji, Sybil and Henri d’Origny, and Hugo Vickers.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CHARLOTTE MOSLEY is Diana Mitford’s daughter-in-law. She has worked as a publisher and journalist and has edited A Talent to Annoy: Essays, Articles and Reviews by Nancy Mitford (1986), Love from Nancy: The Letters of Nancy Mitford (1993) and The Letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh (1996).
PRAISE
From the reviews of The Mitfords:
‘Brilliantly edited … Here, for the first time, are the six women’s own voices booming out from the tomb and across the decades … telling their extraordinary stories, which … is also the story of the twentieth century, told from the front row’
INDIA KNIGHT, Sunday Times
‘The Mitford sisters … in their own voices were wonderfully funny and original, and in more than one case, superb writers … In this absorbing, funny and often very moving volume, six voices make themselves heard, as fresh as paint … A remarkable story of six remarkable personalities’
PHILIP HENSHER, Spectator
‘Thrilling and moving, funny and serious … a story of a family, of loyalty, love, humour, tragedy and at times of chilling deception, a tale that sometimes amuses and horrifies, but always fascinates … Through six different perspectives, the reality of these women’s lives, in contradiction to the often-held image of indulgent upper-class charmers, is brilliantly conveyed … A luminous correspondence’
JULIET NICOLSON, Daily Telegraph
‘Funny, sad, outrageous and impeccably edited … it never flags for a moment’
JEREMY LEWIS, Mail on Sunday
‘The book’s editor, Charlotte Mosley, proves the perfect companion … she has provided an exceptionally lucid exposition, perceptive and well w
ritten, of the extraordinary lives and complex characters of her cast. The letters are brilliantly entertaining, for the most part written with a talent to amuse that amounts almost to comic genius … Profoundly moving … [A] unique archive, a rich addition indeed to our national heritage’
SELINA HASTINGS, Sunday Telegraph
‘An anthropologist’s treasure: a keyhole view of the private rituals of the British upper classes [and] the pure ore of that very peculiar world … Every sister, whether a professional writer or not, has an extraordinary natural talent for narrative: for observation, reflection, jokes, dialogue and description, and deploys it with unfailing energy … A remarkable volume, the editing of which by Charlotte Mosley is distinguished by its ideal mixture of tact, efficiency and unobtrusiveness’
JANE SHILLING, The Times
‘Fascinating … Charlotte Mosley has done an impeccable job of editing this vast correspondence with its six interweaving lifelines … The roars and shrieks, the jokes and the teases bounce across every page of this hugely enjoyable book’
ARTEMIS COOPER, Evening Standard
‘Mosley … shows that the enduring fascination of this family comes not only from the larks and the society names but from the fact that the big currents of the twentieth century – fascism and communism, wars and death – washed through their lives’
JAN DALLEY, Financial Times
A magnificent celebration of eighty years of sisterhood … Unputdownable’
HUGO VICKERS, Country Life
ALSO EDITED BY CHARLOTTE MOSLEY
A Talent to Annoy: Essays, Articles and Reviews
by Nancy Mitford, 1929–1968
Love from Nancy: The Letters of Nancy Mitford
The Letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh
COPYRIGHT
Harper Press
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
77–85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London W6 8JB
www.harpercollins.co.uk
This Harper Perennial edition published 2008
First published in Great Britain by Fourth Estate in 2007
Copyright: Compilation, notes, introductions and letters of Diana Mosley
© Charlotte Mosley 2007;
Letters of Nancy Mitford, Pamela Jackson, Unity Mitford and Deborah Devonshire
© Chatsworth House Trust 2007;
Letters of Jessica Mitford © Constancia Romilly and Benjamin Treuhaft 2007;
All photographs are privately owned unless otherwise credited.
Charlotte Mosley asserts the moral right