Launton WI reporting for July 2024

At our July meeting, Gillian Cane spoke to us about the Mitford sisters. She was quite polite about them initially ‘an amazing bunch of 6 sisters’, moving on to ‘they all ‘did’ something, sometimes controversial.’ The controversial bit included being Hitler’s ‘close friend’.

The Mitford girls grew up in Oxfordshire, at Asthall and Swinbrook. They generally didn’t go to school (though they did have governesses, and some wrote very good books) and they were all rather glamorous. Their mother, Lady Redesdale, did get concerned about their exploits. Two sisters were less outrageous than the others: Pamela, who caught the eye of John Betjeman but went on to marry a rich man and became a world expert on poultry - and Deborah. You can’t dish the dirt on Debo, she was liked by everyone. She married Andrew Cavendish, not expecting to inherit the family title, and they worried about being poor. Then the elder brother was killed and Debo became Duchess of Devonshire and they inherited Chatsworth, though it took them 21 years to clear the death duties. They were single- handedly responsible for saving Chatsworth and Debo was an all-round good egg. She wrote her last book Wait for Me at the age of 90.

Going downhill somewhat, Unity was a tall girl with a large character. She would take her pet rat Ratulato dances and hid snakes in the bathroom. Apparently she was loved for her eccentricity. Unity became smitten with Germany, and Hitler in particular. They spent hours together. Unity couldn’t bear it when war came, and she shot herself in the head with a pearl-handled revolver. She didn’t die at that point, but she was never the same again.

Diana Mitford was very beautiful indeed, with sapphire blue eyes. She divorced her first husband for Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists, said to be magnetically attractive. During the war they were locked away in Holloway prison on the advice of another sister, Nancy, who advised Churchill that they were unsafe.

Nancy was the eldest and a bestselling author, with books about upper class life. She also wrote The Sun King about Louis XIV. Before that, she went to art school but found it difficult to cope with her digs, as there were no staff to tidy up. She lacked Debo’s charm and was thought to be spiteful, though her books were good. Then there’s Jessica, whose best friend was a sheep, which she took to church. She wrote the book Hons and Rebels about coming out as a debutante - a good book. However, she stole from her parents, lied, and eloped with Edmund Romilly, a rebel. They fought with the Communists in the Spanish Civil War. Ultimately she went to live in America and became a member of the American Communist Party.

It was a good meeting with a good crowd and we enjoyed the talk. Sherie won the competition, we donated items to the Hygiene Bank and we heard about many WI activities outside the meeting, including croquet and a bring and share barbeque. If you would like to come to WI we meet on the second Thursday of the month at 7.30 in the Parish Hall, and you would be very welcome.

Gwen Skinner