The Mitford Girls
Page 58
22 A Fine Old Conflict, p. 194.
23 Ibid.
24 NM to Raymond Mortimer, 8 September 1955, in Mosley, Charlotte, Love from Nancy (Hodder & Stoughton, 1993), p. 407.
25 NM to Evelyn Waugh, 4 August 1955, in ibid., p. 404.
26 A Fine Old Conflict, p. 197.
27 19 November 1955, in Love from Nancy, p. 410.
28 Decca believed Pam was a lesbian. It is true that Pam shared her home with another woman for a number of years but all the surviving written evidence points to this being a platonic rather than a sexual relationship.
29 OSU, RT file, JM to RT, 12 November 1955.
30 Constancia ‘Dinky’ Romilly, interview with the author, October 1999.
31 George Gutekunst, interview with the author, Sonoma, October 1999.
32 A Fine Old Conflict, p. 203.
33 Reprinted in The Lively Arts, date unknown. See transcript of interview in OSU/155.
34 Marge (Frantz), Pele (de Lappe) and Betty (Bacon).
35 OSU/1698, 4 January 1957; about $50,000.
36 NM to SR, 6 September 1952, in Love from Nancy, p. 358.
37 Sunday Times, 7 March 1954.
38 Manchester Guardian, 12 March 1954. See Love from Nancy, pp. 381-2.
39 Ibid., p. 369.
40 Hastings, Selina, Nancy Mitford (Hamish Hamilton, 1985), p. 225.
41 Mitford, Nancy, Noblesse Oblige (Hamish Hamilton, 1956).
42 NM to Hugh Thomas, 15 March 1956, in Love from Nancy, p. 412.
43 Sophia Cavendish, b. 18 March 1957.
44 A Life of Contrasts, p. 257.
45 OSU/1699, SR to JM, 19 March 1958.
46 OSU/1707, NM to JM, 3 April 1958.
Chapter 20: A Cold Wind to the Heart, 1958-66 1DM to the author, January 1999: ‘my two Guinness sons went to Oxford, Jonathan to Trinity and Desmond to Christ Church - I tell you this in case you think that like us my sons never went to University’.
2 Mosley, Oswald, My Life (Nelson, 1970), p. 430.
3 Mosley, Diana, A Life of Contrasts (Hamish Hamilton, 1977), p. 240.
4 My Life, p. 428.
5 Guinness, Jonathan and Catherine, The House of Mitford (Hutchinson, 1984), p. 534.
6 Lord Longford, interview with the author, House of Lords, May 2000.
7 NM to JM, 15 November 1968, in Mosley, Charlotte, Love from Nancy (Hodder & Stoughton, 1993), p. 556.
8 NM to Gaston Palewski, 12 June 1958, in ibid., p. 439.
9 OSU/1699, JM to SR, 30 June 1958.
10 RT recalls that the island was valued at $54,000 (about £11,000 then) so he and Decca were able to buy out the other shares for $27,000.
11 Decca had saved every penny she had ever received from the Canadian government widow’s pension - even at her most hard-up she had never used it. It was Dinky’s college fund.
12 OSU, RT file, JM to RT, 16 April 1959.
13 Ibid., various letters.
14 Mitford, Jessica, Hons and Rebels (Victor Gollancz, 1960), p. 228.
15 OSU/RT file, RT to JM, 26 April 1959.
16 RT, interview with the author, Oakland, California, October 1999.
17 Ibid.
18 OSU/1746, JM to RT, 15 May 1959.
19 But published in the USA as Daughters and Rebels. There was an unexpected boost to sales in the Deep South where it was shelved in bookshops with civil-war materials.
20 OSU, JM to Marge Frantz, 5 June 1959.
21 CHP, JM to DD, 17 August 1959.
22 OSU, JM to RT, 29 July 1959.
23 OSU/1699, 14 October 1959.
24 OSU/1700, SR to JM, 21 April 1960.
25 Rosemary Bailey, Julia Budworth.
26 OSU/100, SR to JM, 10 April 1960.
27 Ibid., 12 August 1959.
28 OSU/1707, NM to JM, 11 March 1960.
29 NM to Heywood Hill (2 letters), 9 and 16 March 1960, in Love from Nancy, pp. 446-7.
30 24 May 1960, in ibid., p. 450.
31 RT, interview with the author, Oakland, California, October 1999.
32 New York Post, 5 June 1960.
33 19 November 1960.
34 CHP, JM to DD, 11 July 1962.
35 Mitford, Nancy, The Water Beetle (Hamish Hamilton, 1962), pp. 6-9.
36 Madeau Stewart was the granddaughter of Tello, Sydney’s old governess and confidante. Tello had several children by Tap Bowles and therefore Madeau was Sydney’s half-niece. ‘We never spoke of family matters, or the family connection,’ Madeau told me, ‘although our families were always in touch.’ The Stewarts used to rent Sydney’s cottage at High Wycombe, for instance, but Madeau was forty before she discovered there was some family connection. Madeau Stewart, interview with the author, Burford, Oxon, 1999.
37 A Life of Contrasts, p. 255.
38 NM to Mark Ogilvie-Grant, 14 May 1963, in Love from Nancy, p. 488
39 21 May 1963, in ibid., p. 489.
40 OSU/1560, DD to JM, 31 May 1963.
41 OSU/1680, JM to Peter Nevile, 20 November 1991.
42 OSU, Constancia ‘Dinky’ Romilly to JM and RT, 25 September 1963. Also interview with the author, Oakland, California, 1999.
43 Mitford, Jessica, The American Way of Death (Simon & Schuster, 1963), p. 29.
44 OSU/1678, JM to Charlotte Mosley, 4 May 1996.
45 CHP, file, 1963. Cross-reference to JM letter, dated 30 January 1996. See also OSU, JM to RT, 23 June 1964: ‘Said he had read my book and for that reason chose the $900 one [casket]. Otherwise would have felt he must get the most expensive, last gesture he could make to his brother etc.’ When Bobby Kennedy was murdered Arthur Schlesinger was responsible for making the arrangements when the body arrived at Bethesda. He too recalled Decca’s book and chose one of the least expensive caskets, but later agonized about whether he was being ‘cheap’ or just sensible: ‘I remember thinking about how difficult it must be for everybody making that sort of decision.’ See his Robert Kennedy and His Times (Houghton Mifflin, 1978).
46 The matter did not end with post-publication publicity. Decca began a campaign for inexpensive funerals and with the help of a friend a funeral co-operative was established, which is still active.
47 Mitford, Jessica Poison Penmanship (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 1979) p. 4.
Chapter 21: Views and Reviews, 1966-80 1Her husband is Terry Webber.
2 OSU/709, NM to JM, 18 November 1965.
3 OSU/1776, RT file, RT to JM, 31 May 1965.
4 Pele de Lappe papers, JM to Pele, 11 August 1964, and interview with the author, California, October 1999.
5 Letter from Brigid Keenan to the author.
6 NM to DD, 29 March 1969, in Mosley, Charlotte, Love from Nancy (Hodder & Stoughton, 1993), p. 562.
7 OSU, JM to DD, 17 July 1969.
8 CHP, JM to DD, 13 May 1969.
9 Pele de Lappe, interview with the author, October 1999; JM to Pele, 26 May 1969.
10 RT, interview with the author, Oakland, California, 1999.
11 NM to DD, 24 October 1969, in Love from Nancy, p. 570.
12 OSU/1710, NM to JM, 23 May 1972.
13 CHP, JM to DD, 14 June 1973.
14 OSU, JM to RT, 14 June 1973.
15 OSU/1637, JM to William MacBrian, 30 September 1986.
16 A rare form of cancer, often called Hodgkin’s lymphoma because it affects the lymph glands and the body’s immune system. Treatment for this condition has now greatly improved and no sufferer would have to tolerate the pain that Nancy did.
17 OSU, JM to DD, 16 April 1994.
18 JM to James Lees-Milne, 24 May 1973.
19 JM to Gaston Palewski, 8 June 1973, in Love from Nancy, p. 606.
20 OSU/1712, Joan ‘Rudbin’ Rodzianko to JM, 5 July 1973.
21 OSU/1710, DD to JM, 8 July 1973.
22 Lees-Milne, James, Ancient as the Hills (John Murray, 1997), p. 57.
23 CHP, enclosure with JM to DD, c. June 1973.
24 Ibid., JM to DD, 19 September 1974.
25 Pryce-Jones, David, Unity
Mitford (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1976), p. 1.
26 OSU/1561, JM to DD, 25 January 1974.
27 OSU/1361, DD to JM, 11 February 1974.
28 OSU/1642, JM to Idden (Ann Farrer Horne), 23 February 1980.
29 OSU/1651, PJ to JM, 22 September 1976.
30 CHP, 26 October 1976.
31 OSU misc., Clementine, Lady Beit to JM, c. November 1976.
32 OSU/1738, JM to Emma Tennant, 24 July 1985.
33 Dalley, Jan, Diana Mosley (Faber and Faber, 2000), p. 284.
34 Lees-Milne, James, Through Wood and Dale (John Murray, 1998), p. 160.
35 Mosley, Diana, A Life of Contrasts (Hamish Hamilton, 1977), p. 264.
36 YUL, DD to JLM, 29 July 1988.
37 Mosley, Diana, The Duchess of Windsor (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1980).
38 OSU/1713, Joan ‘Rudbin’ Rodzianko to JM, 22 September 1980.
39 Lees-Milne, James, Deep Romantic Chasm (John Murray, 2000), p. 86.
40 Sunday Times Magazine, ‘A Life in the Day’, DM in interview, November 1983.
41 Guinness, Jonathan and Catherine, The House of Mitford (Hutchinson, 1984), p. 553. It is probably fair to say that Myra Hindley, sentenced to life imprisonment more than thirty years ago for her part in the torture and murder of child victims, is the most hated woman in Britain. Lord Longford has campaigned for years for her release on the grounds that she has repented and is a reformed character. Each time this is suggested British newspapers are besieged with angry letters. The Home Secretary has recently stated that for Myra Hindley life means the whole of her life.
Chapter 22: Relatively Calm Waters, 1980-2000 1Marge Frantz, interview with the author, Santa Cruz, October 1999.
2 In 1977.
3 Decca’s record choices included ‘The Red Flag’ and ‘I’m Sex Appeal Sarah’, a song she used to sing in Boudledidge to entertain visitors to Asthall.
4 Sunday Times Magazine, Julian Jebb, ‘The Mitford Sisters’, 25 May 1980.
5 Though it was a Raeburn, not an Aga.
6 OSU/1709, NM to JM, 15 November 1968.
7 ‘The Mitford Sisters’.
8 The Mitford Girls (1981) written by Ned Sherrin and Caryl Brahms.
9 OSU/1633, JM to Jonathan Guinness, 10 October 1983.
10 Guinness, Catherine, ‘Words with my Aunt, Jessica Mitford’, from an unidentified magazine, in JM’s scrapbook at her home in Oakland.
11 Interview in JM’s scrapbooks, at the Treuhaft home in Oakland.
12 San Francisco Chronicle, 21 September 1986.
13 OSU/1637, DD to JM, 2 December 1986.
14 One cannot help wondering if this DVT was caused by the long flight.
15 YUL, DM to JLM, 9 February 1988.
16 OSU/1783, JM to Dobbie Walker, 20 November 1989.
17 Desert Island Discs, presented by Sue Lawley, 26 November 1989.
18 Daily Telegraph, 27 November 1989, p. 36.
19 Her choice of records was entirely classical, pieces by Mozart, Beethoven and Puccini, a Chopin mazurka and two pieces of Wagner, the ‘Liebestod ’ from Tristan and Isolde and a duet from The Valkyrie.
20 OSU/1651, JM to Contancia ‘Dinky’ Romilly, 12 April 1994.
21 Interview, Oakland, California, October 1999.
22 OSU, Constancia ‘Dinky’ Romilly to Maya Angelou, 10 December 1994.
23 Dinky was, and still is, a highly qualified casualty nurse in A & E. Interestingly Decca identified Dinky as possessing many of Pam’s ‘Womanly’ qualities even as a small child; see her letters to Sydney in 1941-3.
24 RT’s address at the memorial service held for JM in London.
25 DM to the author, 25 February 2001.
26 During one visit to Chatsworth for research the author conducted a mini-census, asking people at nearby tables in the restaurant what had most impressed them. Almost universally they commented on the ‘warm and well-cared-for atmosphere - like a family home’.
27 The author’s late husband, Geoffrey A.H. Watts, chaired and served on the boards of over sixty companies. He said several colleagues told him that appointing Debo to the board of Tarmac Ltd was the best thing the company had ever done.
28 YUL, SR to JLM, 30 March 1958.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND CREDITS
During the research for this book I was given a considerable amount of help and assistance by the family, primarily Debo (the Duchess of Devonshire), Diana (the Hon. Lady Mosley), Robert Treuhaft and Constancia ‘Dinky’ Romilly. I should like to express my immense gratitude to them, and also to the following who have helped in various ways:
Joe Allen, Rosemary Bailey, ‘Rab’ Bailey, Norman Bell, K.V. Blight (House of Lords Archivist), Julia Budworth, Michael Burn, Ruth Caruth (Beinecke Library, Yale University), Lady Elizabeth Cavendish, Richard Cohen, Betty Colchester Wemyss, Ellen R. Cordes (Beinecke Library, Yale University), Gill Day, Pele de Lappe, Katie Edwards (Decca’s secretary), Penny Finchmullen, Marge Frantz, Elva Griffith (Ohio State University), the Hon. Desmond Guinness, Jonathan Guinness (Lord Moyne), George Gutekunst, Janie Hampton, Bevis Hillier, Quentin Keynes, Karen J. Leonard, Lady Elizabeth Longford, Lord Longford, Graeme R. Lovell (advice on inheritance taxes), Mrs J. MacKinnon, Priscilla McWilliams, Helen Marchant (secretary to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire), Doreen Morris, Charlotte Mosley, the Hon. June Ogilvy, Bernadette Rivett, Doug Scherer (Ohio State University), Geoffrey D. Smith (Ohio State University), Madeau Stewart, Peter Y. Sussman, Rosemary Taylor, Janet Topp-Fargion (British Library Sound Archive), Sally Toynbee, Michael Waite, Doris ‘Dobbie’ Walker.
Copyright Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank the following for their generosity in granting permission for copyright material to be printed in this book, as follows:
Unpublished Material
The Duchess of Devonshire, for quotations from letters by Sydney (Lady Redesdale), Mrs Pamela Jackson, Unity Mitford, and her own unpublished writings, also the unpublished writings of Nancy Mitford and to quote the passage from Wigs on the Green.
Diana, Lady Mosley for unpublished and published quotations by herself and Sir Oswald Mosley, and other members of her immediate family.
Robert Treuhaft for quotations by Jessica (Decca) Mitford, himself and Constancia ‘Dinky’ Romilly.
The Rare Books and MSS Department of Ohio State University, which owns the physical property of Jessica Mitford’s papers.
The Beinecke Library at Yale University, which owns the physical property of the James Lees-Milne papers.
Published Material
For quotations from various books (see bibliography for full details of publication):
Desmond Elliott and the Estate of Sir John Betjeman to quote from letters and poetry of Sir John Betjeman.
David Higham Associates for permission to quote from the works of James Lees-Milne.
Hodder & Stoughton for permission to quote from Love from Nancy.
Sally Toynbee for permission to quote from Friends Apart.
The Lady to quote from articles by Nancy Mitford.
Cassell Plc for quotations from Beloved Infidel.
Peters, Fraser & Dunlop Group for quotations from the published works of Nancy Mitford: Love in a Cold Climate, The Pursuit of Love, The Water Beetle and Wigs on the Green. And from the works of Nicholas Mosley: Rules of the Game and Beyond the Pale.
The Sunday Times for permission to quote from the Julian Jebb article ‘The Mitford Sisters’.
The Trustees of the Jessica Mitford Estate for permission to quote from Hons and Rebels and A Fine Old Conflict.
NB The author has assumed ‘fair usage’ for quotations of less than 200 words from any publication. Strenuous attempts have been made to contact all copyright holders. In the few cases where it has not been possible to trace assigns and heirs, the author apologizes, and requests that copyright holders make contact through the publishers. Any such notification will be fully acknowledged in future editions of this book.
I should like to sincerely thank th
ose involved in the various production processes of this book. At Little, Brown (London), Richard Beswick, Viv Redman and Hazel Orme. At W.W. Norton (NY), Starling Lawrence, who was responsible for the book’s conception. And my literary agent Robert Ducas, who is a never-failing source of support.
Finally, my thanks to David Baldwin, Vanda Hamarneh, Fatie Darwish and Shadi Kabalan (‘Song of a Tiger’), who, each in their own way, were of assistance when the page proofs of this book went astray between London and Damascus.
Picture Credits
Devonshire collection, Chatsworth, by kind permission of the Duchess of Devonshire: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 52, 54, 57, 61 (by kind permission of Desmond Guinness)
OSU: 12, 13, 17, 25, (by kind permission of Robert Treuhaft)
Diana Mosley: 23, 32, 42, 55, 56, 58, 59, 60
Hulton Getty: 24
Lawrence N. Hole: 37
Associated Press: 35
Popperfoto: 48
Bibliothèque Nationale: 51
Robert Treuhaft: 53, 62, 63
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
All books published in London unless otherwise stated.
Acton, Harold, Memoir of Nancy Mitford (Hamish Hamilton, 1975).
Amory, Mark, Letters of Evelyn Waugh (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1980).
Attallah, Naim, More of a Certain Age (Quartet Books, 1993).
Barrow, Andrew, Gossip (Hamish Hamilton, 1978).
Boothby, Robert, I Fight to Live (Heinemann, 1947).
Recollections of a Rebel (Hutchinson, 1978).
Bowles, Thomas Gibson, The Log of the Nereid (Simpkin, Marshall & Co., 1889).
Bullock, Alan, Hitler - A Study in Tyranny (Oldhams Press, 1952).
Butler, Lucy (ed.) Letters Home: The Letters of Robert Byron (John Murray, 1991).
Carpenter, Humphrey, The Brideshead Generation (Faber and Faber, 1989).
Carrington, Dora, Letters and Diaries (Cape, 1970).
Churchill, Winston, The Second World War, 5 vols (Cassell, 1948-54).