Editing Mitford family (section)

==Mitford sisters==
[[File:Nancy, Diana, Unity and Jessica Mitford. Sketch magazine cover 1932.jpg|thumb|Cover of ''[[The Sketch]]'', 1932]]
[[File:Mitford-selective-tree1.jpg|thumb|Family tree]]
The sisters gained widespread attention for their stylish and controversial lives as young people, and for their public political divisions between communism and fascism. [[Nancy Mitford|Nancy]] and [[Jessica Mitford|Jessica]] became well-known writers: Nancy wrote ''[[The Pursuit of Love]]'' and ''[[Love in a Cold Climate]]'', and Jessica ''[[The American Way of Death]]'' (1963). Deborah managed [[Chatsworth House]], one of the most successful [[stately homes]] in England.

Jessica and Deborah married nephews of prime ministers [[Winston Churchill]] and [[Harold Macmillan]], respectively. Deborah and [[Diana Mitford|Diana]] both married wealthy aristocrats. [[Unity Mitford|Unity]] and Diana were well known during the 1930s for being close to [[Adolf Hitler]]. Jessica turned her back on her inherited privileges and eloped with her cousin, [[Esmond Romilly]], who was hoping to report on the Spanish Civil War for the ''[[News Chronicle]]'', having briefly fought with the [[International Brigade]].<ref>''Boadilla'' by Esmond Romilly, [[The Clapton Press]] Limited, London, 2018 {{ISBN|978-1999654306}}</ref> Jessica's memoir, ''[[Hons and Rebels]]'', describes their upbringing. Nancy drew upon her family members for characters in her novels. In 1981, Deborah became politically active when she and her husband [[Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire]], joined the new [[Social Democratic Party (UK)|Social Democratic Party]].<ref name=jeslets/>

The sisters and their brother Thomas were the children of [[David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale]], and his wife Sydney, the daughter of [[Thomas Gibson Bowles|Thomas Bowles]]. To their children, they were known as "Farve" and "Muv", respectively. David and Sydney married in 1904. The family homes changed from Batsford House to [[Asthall Manor]] beside the [[River Windrush]] in Oxfordshire, and then Swinbrook Cottage nearby, with a house at Rutland Gate in London.<ref>26 Rutland Gate, Knightsbridge, SW7 > Notable Abodes |http://www.notableabodes.com/abode-search-results/abode-details/139176/26-rutland-gate-knightsbridge-london</ref> They also lived in a cottage in [[High Wycombe]], Buckinghamshire, which they used as a summer residence.<ref name="thisislondon">{{Cite web |date=2001-03-08 |title=The Mitfords were good ol' High Wycombe gals |url=https://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/1189.the-mitfords-were-good-ol-high-wycombe-gals/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Bucks Free Press |language=en}}</ref> 

The siblings grew up in an aristocratic [[country house]] with emotionally distant parents and a large household with numerous servants. This family dynamic was not unusual for upper-class families of the time. The parents disregarded formal education of women of the family, and they were expected to marry at a young age to a financially well-off husband. The children had a private language called "Boudledidge" ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|oʊ|d|əl|d|ɪ|dʒ}}), and each had a different nickname for the others.

After the [[Nazi Regime]] started the [[Invasion of Poland]], the [[European theatre of World War II|Second World War began]] and their political views came into sharper relief. "Farve" remained a conservative who had long favoured [[Neville Chamberlain]]'s approach of appeasing [[Nazi Germany]]. Once [[British declaration of war on Germany (1939)|Britain declared war on Germany]], he returned to being an anti-German British patriot. "Muv" continued her fascist sympathies and usually supported her fascist children. The couple separated in 1943 as a result of this conflict.<ref name="Reynolds"/>

Nancy, a [[social democracy|moderate socialist]], worked in London during [[the Blitz]] and informed on her fascist siblings to the British authorities.<ref name="Reynolds">{{cite news |title=Nancy Mitford spied on sisters |first=Paul |last=Reynolds |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3263733.stm |work=BBC News |date=14 November 2003 |access-date=25 November 2010 }}</ref> Pamela remained seemingly non-political, although according to her sister Nancy, Pamela and Derek Jackson were virulent [[anti-Semites]] verbally during World War II, who had called for all Jews in England to be killed, and wanted an early end to the war with Nazi Germany before England lost any more money.<ref name="Reynolds"/>

Tom, a fascist,{{fact|date=April 2025}} refused to fight Germany but volunteered to fight against [[Imperial Japan]]. He was [[killed in action]] in Burma in 1945. Diana, also a fascist, married to [[Sir Oswald Mosley]], leader of the [[British Union of Fascists]], was imprisoned in London from May 1940 until November 1943 under [[Defence Regulation 18B]]. Unity, fanatically devoted to Hitler and Nazism, was distraught over Britain's war declaration against Germany on 3 September 1939, and tried to commit suicide later that day by shooting herself in the head. She failed in the suicide attempt, but suffered brain damage that eventually led to her early death in 1948.<ref name=jeslets/>

Jessica, a [[Communism|communist]], had moved to the U.S., but her husband [[Esmond Romilly]], a [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|Republican]] veteran from the [[Spanish Civil War]] who volunteered for the [[Royal Canadian Air Force]] in [[World War II]], died in 1941 when his bomber developed mechanical problems over the North Sea and went down.<ref name=jeslets>{{cite book |last1=Mitford |first1=Jessica |author-link1=Jessica Mitford |editor1-first=Peter Y. |editor1-last=Sussman |title=[[Decca: The Letters of Jessica Mitford]] |year=2006 |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson }}</ref> In numerous letters Jessica said that her daughter Constancia received a pension from the Canadian government after Esmond's death until she turned 18.<ref name=jeslets/> 

The strong political rift between Jessica and Diana left them estranged from 1936 until their deaths, although they did speak to each other in 1973, as their eldest sister Nancy was on her deathbed. Aside from Jessica and Diana's estrangement, the sisters kept in frequent contact with each other in the decades after World War II. The sisters were prolific letter-writers, and a substantial body of correspondence still exists, principally letters between them.<ref name="The Times"/>