Before the war, the Mitfords’; fearful of proletariat unrest resulting from mass unemployment and abject poverty, were not unusual amongst their ‘ilk’ in developing an enthusiasm for fascism and a sympathy with Adolf Hitler; who they considered a bulwark against the spread of communism. It thus appeared entirely logical that Lord and Lady Redesdale should support Unity in her determination to commit herself, ‘body and soul’ to the Fuhrer. But this was in the days when many members of the privileged classes remained convinced that some form of appeasement could be achieved; insisting that Hitler was sympathetic to the concept of a global collaboration between the German army and the British navy. Meanwhile, according to Unity’s diary, following her introduction to Hitler the entire Mitford family, with the exception of Nancy, had soon travelled to Munich to be introduced to the great dictator. While she remained publicly critical of her family’s fascist sympathies, her criticism was somewhat hypocritical as she had already joined Mosley’s British Union of Fascists in 1933.
The Mitford’s sympathy with Nazi politics was a matter of considerable public knowledge, largely due to their mothers ability to publicise such in various national newspapers. But in 1939, after war had been declared, such opinions and sympathies rapidly became less acceptable and apart from Nancy, who continued to ridicule the family and even assisted in having Diana and Mosley incarcerated, they all kept a sensibly low profile. Having failed in her attempted suicide, Unity even managed to avoid any form of interrogation, let alone internment.
At the end of the war, with Unity and her brother Tom deceased, Nancy following her lover to Paris, Diana and Mosley (still committed to fascism) moving first to Ireland and then France, Jessica in America and Pam living with her female partner in Switzerland it was left to Debo to burnish the families tarnished reputation.
Having married the future Duke of Devonshire in 1943, Debo had to wait until 1950 before the old Duke died and she could adopt the title of Duchess and the power and status that went with it. Not only did she work tirelessly to turn Chatsworth, the Devonshires’ country seat into a highly profitable business but with tireless energy and often ruthless charm she also managed to minimise the political content of many books about the family.
Unity was her biggest problem, for there was no use in denying her commitment to fascism, hatred of Jews and love of Hitler. Lady Redesdale had already threatened the Daily Mail with legal action if it failed to retract its obituary of her daughter. So what Debo did was to create a whole new public profile for Unity Valkyrie, claiming that she was just an easily led, rather unattractive and unintelligent, juvenile romantic. She even insisted that Unity was little more than a vegetable when she returned from Germany. Many years later, government reports were released that she had actually continued to lead an extremely active life and even had affaires with a number of RAF officers.
When David Pryce-Jones chose to write Unity’s biography he came under intense pressure to accept Debo’s analysis. When he refused to do so he was threatened with legal action. These constant threats continued even after his book, ‘Unity Mitford, a quest’ was published and the book now remains out of print. However, the whitewash will doubtless continue to be supported by those who prefer their Mitfords served sky-blue!
David R. Litchfield is the author of Hitler's Valkyrie: The Uncensored Biography of Unity Mitford - an account of 'the only Englishwoman who came close to being capable of changing the course of the Second World War'.