This is the only Dowager Countess worthy of note.
Posted on 09/24/2014 9:43:41 AM PDT by Cecily
The last of the famous Mitford sisters, Deborah, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, has died at the age of 94, her son said this afternoon.
Deborah Vivien Freeman-Mitford and her siblings moved in the same circles as Winston Churchill, John F Kennedy and Evelyn Waugh, and epitomised a privileged and glamorous aristocratic life that no longer exists.
But despite the glamour that came with being both a Mitford and chatelaine of Devonshire family seat, Chatsworth House,the Duchess, known as Debo, knew great tragedy, too.
Today a family spokesman issued a statement on behalf of her son, the 12th Duke of Devonshire, saying: 'It is with great sadness that I have to inform you that Deborah, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, has passed away peacefully this morning.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Christopher Hogwood just died too!
You know how they say these things always happen in 3s...
Zamfir will be next!
DDDD is D?.....................
Does Chatsworth Osbourne Junior now of this?.....................
It sure does still exist. It's being lived by rappers, singers, actors and politicians.....................
Zamfir...the pan flute guy??
“It sure does still exist. It’s being lived by rappers, singers, actors and politicians.....................”
They may have the money and the influence, but you can’t accuse them of being classy.
Oh, too bad. I read her memoirs. She was a very interesting person, and seemed kind, too.
The end of an era.
RIP.
I’ve read some of her books and books about the Mitfords too. Interesting people living in an interesting time. If her husband’s older brother had not been killed during WWII, the family would have had JFK’s sister as Kathleen, Duchess of Devonshire rather than Deborah.
One of the sisters was Comrade Jessica Mitford.
Yes, I remember reading that.
I thought the Devonshires’ experiences in the post-war period, under the Socialists, were particularly fascinating.
Jessica’s ghoulish “The American Way of Death” remains a creepy classic.
Wasn’t there also a Nazi connection among the Mitford girls?
Their wealth usually doesn’t last long after their athlete days are over.....................
Two Nazi connections: sisters Unity Mitford and Diana Mitford Mosley (married to Oswald Mosley) were great fans/supporters of Hitler and the Nazi party.
Yep, Diana Mitford, a.k.a., Lady Diana Mosley. She was great friends with many prominent Nazis.
It would have been interesting to have had a chat with her.
This is the only Dowager Countess worthy of note.
Rep. James Utt (R-Calif.) responded to her attack on the mortuary industry in her book with a statement in the Congressional Record exposing her Communist background that concluded with, "I would rather be buried by one of our fine upstanding American morticians than set foot on the soil of a Communist country."
Debo outranks Violet: she is a Dowager Duchess. :)
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