Diana the Dreadful

Most Britons of my age and up are aware of the (in)famous Mitford sisters. 

Many Americans of my age and up are aware of but one of them Jessica, who wrote the book entitled “The American Way of Death”.

There were six Mitford sisters: Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica and Deborah; and one brother, Thomas. 

Their mother, Sidney (yes that was her first name) Freeman-Mitford was a proto-fascist, and an early admirer of Ad-lph Hitler. 

Their father David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale was a lifelong Conservative, but never a fascist. Mother and father separated and lived separate lives because of their irreconcilable political differences.

Thomas Mitford was a fascist sympathiser, and a lover of German culture.  He served in the U.K. Army during WWII, but requested that he be assigned to the far-East as he could not bear to think that he would have to shoot at Germans.  Tom was killed in military action in Burma.

Unity was more than a fascist sympathiser, she was a full blown N-zi.  She schemed and planned her activities in Germany so that she could see H-tler.  Not only did she see him, but he saw her, and became fascinated with her.

 When Britain declared war on Germany in 1939, Unity was so distraught that she tried to kill herself with a pistol. Her aim was bad and she did not die, but became brain damaged.  H-tler visited her soon after the suicide attempt and asked if she would prefer to stay in Germany or move back to England.  She whispered “England”, so A. H-tler arranged for her to be moved to Switzerland.  From there she returned to England.  Later she was confirmed in the C of E and became a bit of a religious fanatic.

My recent reading has been about the third Mitford daughter Diana  (1910 – 2003) , in a book written by Anne De Courcy which is entitled “Diana Mosley: Mitford Beauty, British Fascist, H-tler’s Angel”.

Diana was the beauty of her age.  In 1929 she married Bryan Guinness (of the famous Guinness Stout family).

 A bit later Diana became obsessed with the British Fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley; so much so that she divorced Bryan in 1933. (Mosley was the ghastly leader of the British Fascist Movement, with its “Hitlerian” sympathies.

At first she was Mosley’s lover (he was a notorious womaniser), but in 1936 she became his wife.  They were married in Germany in a private ceremony at the home of Joseph G-ebels.  A. H-tler was one of the official witnesses of that marriage.

Thus Diana became Lady Mosley. She ever hereafter insisted that she should be addressed as “Lady Diana Mosley” .

Diana and Sir Oswald Mosley were unrepentant Na-is.

After the 1939 declaration of war against Germany by the U.K;  N-zi sympathisers such as Sir Oswald Mosley and Lady Diana were imprisoned without charge. 

(“Habeas corpus” had been suspended by the Coalition’s Home Secretary, Herbert Morrison).

But by 1943 British Premier Sir Winston Churchill, (convinced as he was that the Allies would “win”), strove to mitigate the punishment of Diana and Oswald Mosley.

Churchill’s pleas were effective.  Thus it was that the Oswald and Diane Mosley were released from their gaols in 1943, and thenceforth were allowed to live under house arrest.

At the end of WW II, Diana Mitford Mosley and her husband Oswald Mosley moved to France, and lived near Paris. 

There they died.

Sadly neither of them was ever willing or able to renounce a fascistic view.

 My reading of Diana Mitford Mosley’s bio leads me to say that:  

1.      The rich try to get away with any and every law which denigrates the poor.

2.      I reject fascism;

3.      I resist any suspension of habeas corpus;

4.      I  hate any Soviet style management of national resources ;

5.      I wish that Diana Mosley had had better tutors:  She was a brilliant woman who would have known better, had she been better educated.

6.      Read the book entitled “Diana Mosley:  Mitford beauty, British fascist, H-tler’s angel”, written by Anne De Courcy.