Somebody once asked me "What is the appeal of the Mitford
girls?" and I said, without hesitating, "There is something for
everybody." This, I think, is a fair summary of the six beautiful
daughters of Lord and Lady Redesdale who are forever immortalized in Nancy
Mitford's postwar bestsellers, The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate,
as Aunt Sadie and Uncle Matthew.
To their children, however, they were simply
called "Muv" and "Farve". Although the family is almost
extinct-the last surviving sister, Debo is the Dowager Duchess of
Devonshire-their influence is relevant today through various mediums. The
Mitfords' grandfather, Tap Bowles, founded The Lady Magazine- Britain's longest
running magazine-and Diana and Debo's descendants stormed the fashion industry
in the nineties and noughties when aristo models were en vogue.
This, of
course, is fairly superficial and what would be the point of such sisters had
they not left an enduring legacy behind. This brings me to Jessica,
"Decca", Mitford and her scandalous muckraking ways, passionate
activism and stellar wit; the Lefties view her as some sort of Joan of Arc, in
rebellion to Diana and Unity, the family's fascists, and Nancy the archetype
snob. The Snobbishness was, as with everything in the Mitford family, a massive
tease. Thankfully, Nancy's U & Non-U essay is slowing fading into the
background and her literary endeavours are emerging forth with new life
breathed into them.
The fact is, the girls will never be boring, there is
always a new biography or another volume of letters bring printed, Decca joked
it was "The Mitford Industry" and indeed, what other set of sisters
has captured the public's imagination in this manner before? Not the
Kardashians, or any of those "reality" show types, you see censorship
was not in their vocabulary and their thoughts, actions and works were off the
cuff and although they were often controversial, an integrity lies within their
honesty.
So there you have it, in order of birth I present to you:
Nancy the elegant author and Francophile
Pamela the gentle countrywoman whose aga, in cornflower blue,
matched her eyes
Diana the society beauty who bolted from Bryan Guinness to live as
Sir Oswald Mosley's mistress (her reputation never recovered)
Unity the overgrown debutante and Hitler enthusiast
Jessica the Communist and Civil Rights activist
Deborah the 11th Duchess of Devonshire and well seasoned Elvis
Presley fanatic
My book The Mitford Girls' Guide to Life dissects each of their
lives into sections. Quite frankly, and I am not ashamed to admit it, the book
is a Mitford Tease. It is a guidebook for Mitford enthusiasts who I hope will
appreciate the new information that I discovered. It does not whitewash Diana
and Unity's politics, but I hope it also presents another side to them. Every
important event from the 20th century can be viewed from the prism of Mitford
life, and that is where the appeal lies.
Lyndsy Spence
The Mitford Girls' Guide to Life
A look at how the perennially popular Mitford girls would cope with modern life, with rare and unpublished images courtesy of the Mary Evans Picture Library and extracts from rare archived interviews which have never been previously used
About the author:
Lyndsy Spence is from County Antrim in Northern Ireland and runs
The Mitford Society, an online community dedicated to the Mitford girls. She is writing a biography of Diana
Mitford and Bryan Guinness and also working on a biography of the actress Margaret Lockwood. Lyndsy co-wrote
The Flower Girl and her screenplay on Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier's Australian tour in 1948 is currently in
development with Ariana Entertainment.