The Mitford Sisters

"She was filled with a wild, unfamiliar happiness, and knew that this was love. Twice in her life she..."

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 12:00:02 -0400

“She was filled with a wild, unfamiliar happiness, and knew that this was love. Twice in her life she had mistaken something else for it; it was like seeing somebody in the street who you think is a friend, you whistle and wave and run after him, and it is not only not the friend, but not even very like him. A few minutes later the real friend appears in view, and then you can’t imagine how you ever mistook that other person for him.”

- Nancy Mitford “The Pursuit of Love” (via infantiloide)

iwhohavenoface: “Violet is madder than ever. She said to a friend of mine, whom she has just met,...

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 11:53:27 -0400

iwhohavenoface:

“Violet is madder than ever. She said to a friend of mine, whom she has just met, do you know who I am? (I said the answer should be the man in the Iron Mask?) I am the daughter of Edward VII but don’t tell anybody.”

- Nancy Mitford writing to Harold Acton , mid 1960’s.

mylandladysbooks: Hons and Rebels, Jessica Mitford, Penguin,...

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 11:51:29 -0400

mylandladysbooks:

Hons and Rebels, Jessica Mitford, Penguin, 1962

ohmeringue: Diana, Pamela and Deborah.

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 11:57:50 -0400

ohmeringue:

Diana, Pamela and Deborah.

"I expect Muv’s told you all the low down on the wedding so I won’t bother to enlarge on it. It..."

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 11:51:59 -0400

“I expect Muv’s told you all the low down on the wedding so I won’t bother to enlarge on it. It really was great fun, & we nearly giggled from nerves during the ceremony. Afterwards we went to Paris where we jollied ourselves up in nightclubs etc for two days, it was fun but rather tiring & it’s lovely to be here for a bit.
[…]
Being a married Hen is not at all unlike being an unmarried Hen has been during the last few months, except it seems rather extraorder to have a wedding ring & a mother in law & everything.”

- Jessica Mitford to Deborah Mitford, May 1937 (via fineoldconflicts)

"The family are in a terrible financial crisis. However we continue to eat as before (however humbly)..."

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 13:08:36 -0400

“The family are in a terrible financial crisis. However we continue to eat as before (however humbly) drink and drive about in large Daimlers. Mitfords are like that.”

- Nancy Mitford in a letter to her brother (via nicolebonnet)

"There was drama when Linda, aged ten, attempted suicide in order to rejoin an old smelly Border..."

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 11:58:09 -0400

“There was drama when Linda, aged ten, attempted suicide in order to rejoin an old smelly Border Terrier which Uncle Matthew had had put down.”

- The Pursuit of Love, by Nancy Mitford (via iphigenias)

"When I met Decca Mitford at Cousin Dorothy’s the other weekend we both more or less fell in love..."

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 11:52:47 -0400

“When I met Decca Mitford at Cousin Dorothy’s the other weekend we both more or less fell in love with each other… then we arranged that she should come to Spain as my secretary. I expect by the time you get this we’ll have been married in Spain, as of course we’ve been unofficially so since we left, and we’re intending to have three children.
Of course her family loathe the name etc. of me so I think if you ever meet Lady Redesdale you might perhaps pour some whitewash on me.”

- Esmond Romilly to Nellie Romilly, 1937 (via fineoldconflicts)

I don't care if it's wrong,

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 11:53:40 -0400

studiochatter:

I kind of root for Nancy and Prod. I’ll overlook an awful lot for stories like this:

“The German Ambassador invited us to a party in German which is very rude so Rodd refused in Yiddish.” (Nancy to Decca, 1937)

Deborah Mitford in a letter to Jessica, 6 May 1940

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 17:33:59 -0400

Lots of my friends are in France & some in Norway so I don’t think it sounds much fun in London. How that will make you roar.
I always think while I’m writing how terrifically you despise my life.

I expect you know that Honks [Diana] produced another ten pound boy the other day [Max Mosley], she really does make a habit of it. She & the Leader [Sir Oswald Mosley] really do get on well, a terrific tease on everyone.

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Fri, 29 Jun 2012 11:58:11 -0400

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Thu, 28 Jun 2012 11:57:19 -0400

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Wed, 27 Jun 2012 11:58:32 -0400

"If I had a girl I should say to her, «Marry for love if you can, it won’t last, but it is a very..."

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 11:50:50 -0400

“If I had a girl I should say to her, «Marry for love if you can, it won’t last, but it is a very interesting experience and makes a good begining in life. Later on, when you marry for money, for heaven’s sake let it be big money. There are no other possible reasons for marrying at all.»”

- Nancy Mitford, Christmas Pudding. (via bookaddictiion)

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Mon, 25 Jun 2012 11:54:41 -0400

stupendous-operatic-spectacle: Evelyn Waugh had criticised The American Way of Death, for its lack...

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 00:49:23 -0400

stupendous-operatic-spectacle:

Evelyn Waugh had criticised The American Way of Death, for its lack of a ‘plainly stated attitude towards death’. [Jessica Mitford] replied via her sister Nancy: ‘… tell him of course I’m against it’.

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Sun, 24 Jun 2012 11:51:31 -0400

Debo talks about her childhood in Swinbrook. If you click...

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 11:50:38 -0400

Debo talks about her childhood in Swinbrook. If you click through to Youtube there is a second part as well.

"All humans are the same, so there’s no point making a great fuss about who is what. It’s better for..."

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 20:23:12 -0400

“All humans are the same, so there’s no point making a great fuss about who is what. It’s better for everyone to get together, I reckon.”

- Her Grace Deborah Cavendish, the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire (via acockeyedoptimist)

"I don’t suppose you saw Kit [Diana’s husband] on telly the other day (Thames) anyway Robert..."

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 11:56:06 -0400

“I don’t suppose you saw Kit [Diana’s husband] on telly the other day (Thames) anyway Robert Skidelsky wrote him a letter saying that it gave an impression of someone with megalomania. The letter made me SCREAM & Kit said ‘Did you think I seemed like a megalomaniac?’ and I said ‘Well I’m so used to you being one that I simply don’t notice it anymore.’”

- Diana Mitford Mosley in a letter to her sister Deborah, excerpt from The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters (via baptisms-)