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Diana, Lady Mosley (''née'' Mitford; 17 June 1910 – 11 August 2003), known as Diana Guinness between 1929 and 1936, was a British
fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...
, aristocrat, writer, and editor. She was one of the Mitford sisters and the wife of
Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980), was a British aristocrat and politician who rose to fame during the 1920s and 1930s when he, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, turned to fascism. ...
, leader of the
British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, f ...
. She was initially married to Bryan Guinness, heir to the barony of Moyne, and both were part of the Bright Young Things, a social group of young
Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...
socialites in 1920s London. Her marriage ended in divorce as she was pursuing a relationship with Oswald Mosley. In 1936, she married Mosley at the home of the propaganda minister for
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
,
Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...
, with
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
as guest of honour. Her involvement with fascist political causes resulted in three years'
internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...
during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, when Britain was at war with the fascist regime of Nazi Germany. She later moved to Paris and enjoyed some success as a writer. In the 1950s, she contributed diaries to ''
Tatler ''Tatler'' (stylised in all caps) is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. It focuses on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper and upper-middle c ...
'' and edited the magazine '' The European''. In 1977, she published her autobiography, ''
A Life of Contrasts A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...
'', and two more biographies in the 1980s. Mosley's 1989 appearance on
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
's ''
Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...
'' was controversial due to her
Holocaust denial Historical negationism, Denial of the Holocaust is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the genocide of Jews by the Nazi Party, Nazis is a fabrication or exaggeration. It includes making one or more of the following false claims: ...
and admiration of Hitler. She was also a regular book reviewer for ''
Books and Bookmen A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, mo ...
'' and later at ''
The Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is print ...
'' in the 1990s. A family friend,
James Lees-Milne (George) James Henry Lees-Milne (6 August 1908 – 28 December 1997) was an English writer and expert on country houses, who worked for the National Trust from 1936 to 1973. He was an architectural historian, novelist and biographer. His extens ...
, wrote of her beauty, "She was the nearest thing to
Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), better known as Sandro Botticelli ( ; ) or simply known as Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 1 ...
's
Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...
that I have ever seen". She was described by obituary writers such as the historian Andrew Roberts as "unrepentant" about her previous political associations.Diana Mosley, unrepentantly Nazi and effortlessly charming
The Telegraph. 13 August 2003


Early life

Diana Mitford was the fourth child and third daughter of David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale (1878–1958), and his wife Sydney (1880–1963). She was a first cousin once removed of Clementine Churchill, second cousin of Sir Angus Ogilvy, and first cousin, twice removed, of
Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...
. She was raised in the country estate of
Batsford Park Batsford Arboretum is a arboretum and botanical garden near Batsford in Gloucestershire, England, about 1½ miles north-west of Moreton-in-Marsh, at . It is owned and run by the Batsford Foundation, a registered charity, and is open to the pub ...
, Gloucestershire, then from the age of 10 at the family home,
Asthall Manor Asthall Manor is a gabled Jacobean Cotswold manor house in Asthall, Oxfordshire. It was built in about 1620 and altered and enlarged in about 1916. The house is Grade II listed on the National Heritage List for England. Early in the 20th centu ...
in Oxfordshire, and later at Swinbrook House, a home her father had built in the nearby village of
Swinbrook Swinbrook is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Swinbrook and Widford, in the West Oxfordshire district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is on the River Windrush, about east of Burford. Widford, Oxfordshire, Widf ...
. She was educated at home by a series of governesses, except for a six-month period in 1926, when she was sent to a day school in Paris. In childhood, her younger sisters Jessica Mitford ("Decca") and
Deborah According to the Book of Judges, Deborah (, ''Dəḇōrā'') was a prophetess of Judaism, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel, and the only female judge mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Many scholars contend that the phrase, "a woman of Lap ...
("Debo", later the Duchess of Devonshire), were particularly devoted to her. At the age of 18, shortly after her presentation at Court, she became secretly engaged to Bryan Guinness. In her youth, Mitford was considered part of the social set known as 'The Bright Young Things'.


Marriages

Guinness, an Irish aristocrat, writer and brewing heir, would inherit the barony of Moyne. Diana's parents were opposed to the engagement but in time were persuaded; Sydney was particularly uneasy at the thought of two such young people having possession of such a large fortune, but she was eventually convinced Bryan was a suitable husband. They married on 30 January 1929; her sisters Jessica and Deborah were too ill to attend the ceremony. The couple had an income of £20,000 a year, an estate at Biddesden in Wiltshire, and houses in London and Dublin. They were well known for hosting social events involving the Bright Young People. The writer
Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...
exclaimed that her beauty "ran through the room like a peal of bells", and he dedicated the novel '' Vile Bodies'' to her. Portraits of her were painted by
Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarg ...
, Pavel Tchelitchew and
Henry Lamb Henry Taylor Lamb (21 June 1883 – 8 October 1960) was an Australian-born British painter. A follower of Augustus John, Lamb was a founder member of the Camden Town Group in 1911 and of the London Group in 1913. Early life Henry Lamb was bo ...
. She was one of a series of society beauties photographed as classical figures by Madame Yevonde. The couple had two sons, Jonathan (born 1930) and Desmond (1931–2020). In February 1932, Diana met Sir
Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980), was a British aristocrat and politician who rose to fame during the 1920s and 1930s when he, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, turned to fascism. ...
at a garden party at the home of the society hostess Emerald Cunard. He soon became leader of the newly formed
British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, f ...
and Diana became his lover; Mosley was then married to Lady Cynthia Mosley, a daughter of
Lord Curzon George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (11 January 1859 – 20 March 1925), known as Lord Curzon (), was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician, explorer and writer who served as Viceroy of India ...
, a former
Viceroy of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...
, and his first wife, the American mercantile heiress Mary Victoria Leiter. Diana left her husband, "moving with a skeleton staff of nanny, cook, house-parlourmaid and lady's maid to a house at 2
Eaton Square Eaton Square is a rectangular, residential garden square in London's Belgravia district. It is the largest Squares in London, square in London. It is one of the three squares built by the landowning Grosvenor family when they developed the main ...
, round the corner from Mosley's flat", but Sir Oswald would not leave his wife. Quite suddenly, Cynthia died in 1933 of
peritonitis Peritonitis is inflammation of the localized or generalized peritoneum, the lining of the inner wall of the abdomen and covering of the abdominal organs. Symptoms may include severe pain, swelling of the abdomen, fever, or weight loss. One pa ...
. Mosley was devastated by the death of his wife, but later started an affair with her younger sister, Lady Alexandra Metcalfe. Mitford's parents did not approve of her decision to leave Guinness for Mosley, and she was briefly estranged from most of her family. Her affair and eventual marriage to Mosley also strained relationships with her sisters. Jessica and Deborah were initially not permitted to see Diana, for she was "living in sin" with Mosley in London. Deborah eventually came to know Mosley and ended up liking him very much. Jessica despised Mosley's beliefs and became permanently estranged from Diana in the later 1930s. Pam and her husband Derek Jackson got along well with Mosley. Nancy never liked Mosley and, like Jessica, despised his political beliefs, but was able to learn to tolerate him for the sake of her relationship with Diana. Nancy wrote the novel '' Wigs on the Green'', which satirised Mosley and his beliefs. After it was published in 1935, relations between the sisters became strained-to-non-existent and it was not until the mid-1940s that they were able to get back to being close again. The couple rented Wootton Lodge, a country house in
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...
that Diana had intended to buy. She furnished much of her new home with much of the Swinbrook furniture that her father was selling. The Mosleys lived at Wootton Lodge along with their children from 1936 to 1939.


Nazi Germany

In 1934, Diana visited Germany with her then 19-year-old sister Unity. While there, they attended the first Nuremberg rally after the Nazi rise to power. Unity, a friend of Hitler, introduced Diana to him in March 1935. They returned for the second rally later that year and were entertained as his guests at the 1935 rally. In 1936, he provided a
Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...
to chauffeur Diana to the Berlin Olympic games. She became well acquainted with Winifred Wagner and Magda Goebbels. Diana and Oswald secretly married on 6 October 1936 in the drawing room of Nazi propaganda chief
Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...
. Adolf Hitler, Robert Gordon-Canning and Bill Allen were in attendance. The marriage was kept secret until the birth of their first child in 1938. In August 1939, Hitler told Diana over lunch that war was inevitable. Mosley and Diana had two sons: (Oswald) Alexander Mosley (born 1938) and Max Rufus Mosley (1940–2021). Hitler presented the couple with a silver framed picture of himself. The Mosleys were interned during much of the Second World War, under
Defence Regulation 18B Defence Regulation 18B, often referred to as simply 18B, was one of the Defence Regulations used by the British Government during and before the Second World War. The complete name for the rule was Regulation 18B of the Defence (General) Regula ...
, along with other British fascists including Norah Elam.
MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...
documents released in 2002 described Lady Mosley and her political leanings. "Diana Mosley, wife of Sir Oswald Mosley, is reported on the 'best authority', that of her family and intimate circle, to be a public danger at the present time. Is said to be far cleverer and more dangerous than her husband and will stick at nothing to achieve her ambitions. She is wildly ambitious." On 29 June 1940, eleven weeks after the birth of her fourth son, Max, Diana was arrested (hastily stuffing Hitler's photograph under Max's cot mattress when the police came to arrest her) and taken to a cell in F Block in London's Holloway Prison for women. She and her husband were held without charge or trial under the provisions of 18B, on the advice of MI5. The couple were initially held separately but, after personal intervention by Churchill, in December 1941, Mosley and two other 18B husbands (one of them Mosley's friend Captain H. W. Luttman-Johnson) were permitted to join their wives at Holloway. After more than three years' imprisonment, they were both released in November 1943 on the grounds of Mosley's ill health; they were placed under house arrest until the end of the war and were denied
passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...
s until 1949. Lady Mosley's prison time failed to disturb her approach to life; she remarked in her later years that she felt better treated than earlier prisoners. According to an anecdote in her ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' obituary,
Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...
saw Lady Mosley wear a diamond
swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...
brooch among her jewels as she left prison.


Post-war

After the war ended, the couple kept homes in
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, with apartments in London and Paris. Their recently renovated
Clonfert Clonfert () is a small village in east County Galway, Ireland, halfway between Ballinasloe and Portumna. The village gives its name to the Diocese of Clonfert (Roman Catholic), Diocese of Clonfert. Clonfert Cathedral is one of the eight cathedr ...
home, a former Bishop's palace, burned down in an accidental fire. In her memoirs, Diana blamed her cook, writing that the fire could have been extinguished had it not been for the cook who ran back to her room to retrieve her possessions and in doing so delayed efforts to control the fire. Following this, they moved to a home near
Fermoy Fermoy () is a town on the Munster Blackwater, River Blackwater in east County Cork, Ireland. As of the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, the town and environs had a population of approximately 6,700 people. It is located in the barony (Ir ...
,
County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...
, later settling permanently in France, at the Temple de la Gloire, a Palladian temple in
Orsay Orsay () is a Communes of France, commune in the Essonne Departments of France, department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. A fortifie ...
, southwest of Paris, in 1950 (built in 1801 to honour the French victory of December 1800 at Hohenlinden, near Munich). Gaston and Bettina Bergery had told the Mosleys that the property was on the market. They were neighbours of the
Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...
and Duchess of Windsor, who lived in the neighbouring town Gif-sur-Yvette, and soon became their close friends. Once again they became known for entertaining, but were barred from all functions at the British Embassy. During their time in France, the Mosleys quietly went through another marriage ceremony; Hitler had safeguarded their original marriage licence, and it was never found after the war. During this period, Mosley was unfaithful to Diana, but she found for the most part that she was able to learn to keep herself from getting too upset regarding his adulterous habits. She told an interviewer: "I think if you're going to mind infidelity, you better call it a day as far as marriage goes. Because who has ever remained faithful? I mean, they don't. There's passion and that's it." Diana was also a lifelong supporter of the
British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, f ...
(BUF), and its postwar successor the
Union Movement The Union Movement (UM) was a far-right political party founded in the United Kingdom by Oswald Mosley. Before the Second World War, Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF) had wanted to concentrate trade within the British Empire, but the ...
. At times, she was vague when discussing her loyalties to Britain, her strong belief in fascism, and her attitude to Jews. In her 1977 autobiography ''A Life of Contrasts'', she wrote, "I didn't love Hitler any more than I did Winston hurchill I can't regret it, it was so interesting." In her final interviews with Duncan Fallowell in 2002, she responded that her reaction to the newsreels of death camps was "Well, of course, horror. Utter horror. Exactly the same probably as your reactions." However, when asked about having revulsion against Hitler for this, she said that "I had a complete revulsion against the people who did it but I could never efface from my memory the man I had actually experienced before the war. A very complicated feeling. I can't really relate those two things to each other. I know I'm not supposed to say that but I just have to." At other times, however, she behaved so as to suggest intense anti-semitic attitudes; the journalist Paul Callan remembered mentioning that he was Jewish while interviewing her husband in Diana's presence. According to Callan, "I mentioned, just in the course of conversation, that I was Jewish—at which Lady Mosley went ashen, snapped a crimson nail and left the room ... No explanation was given but she would later write to a friend: 'A nice, polite reporter came to interview Tom s Mosley was knownbut he turned out to be Jewish and was sitting there at our table. They are a very clever race and come in all shapes and sizes.'" Diana offered to entertain her teenage half-Jewish nephew, Benjamin Treuhaft, on a trip to France. The offer was refused by Benjamin's mother, Jessica, who remained estranged from Diana over the latter's political past. In a 2000 interview with ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', Diana said that "Maybe instead they uropean Jewscould have gone somewhere like Uganda: very empty and a lovely climate" (a reference to the Uganda Scheme proposed by
Zionists Zionism is an ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the Jewish people, pursued through the colonization of Palestine, a region roughly cor ...
in 1903). Her appearance on the
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
programme ''
Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...
'' with Sue Lawley in 1989 remains controversial due to Mosley's
Holocaust denial Historical negationism, Denial of the Holocaust is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the genocide of Jews by the Nazi Party, Nazis is a fabrication or exaggeration. It includes making one or more of the following false claims: ...
and admiration of Hitler. Mosley told Lawley that she had not believed the extermination of Jews by Nazi Germany until "years" after the war, and that she thought the official death figure of six million Jewish victims was too high. The broadcast of this episode had to be rescheduled several times because it kept coinciding with
Jewish holidays Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' (, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar.This article focuses on practices of mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. ...
and prompted hundreds of complaints to the BBC. In 2016, a writer at the BBC described it as the most controversial of all ''Desert Island Discs'' episodes. Her choices of music to be played on Desert Island Discs were: Symphony No. 41 (Mozart), "Casta Diva" from ''
Norma Norma may refer to: * Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) ** Norma Lizbeth Ramos, a Mexican bullying victim Astronomy *Norma (constellation) * 555 Norma, a minor asteroid * Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral ...
'' ( Bellini), "Ode to Joy" (
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
), ''
Die Walküre (; ''The Valkyrie''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86B, is the second of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was ...
'' (
Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
), ''
Liebestod "" ( German for "love death") is the title of the final, dramatic music from the 1859 opera ' by Richard Wagner. It is the climactic end of the opera, as Isolde sings over Tristan's dead body. The music is often used in film and television pro ...
'' (Wagner), "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" from ''
Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...
'' ( Bizet), " A Whiter Shade of Pale" (
Procol Harum Procol Harum () were an English rock music, rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have sold more than List of best-selling si ...
) and Polonaise in F-sharp minor ( Chopin). After their early twenties, Diana and her sister Jessica only saw each other once, when they met for half an hour as their elder sister, Nancy, lay dying in
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
. Diana said of Jessica in 1996: "I quite honestly don't mind what Decca essicasays or thinks," adding that "She means absolutely nothing to me at all. Not because she's a Communist but simply because she's a rather boring person, really." In 1998, due to her advancing age, she moved out of the Temple de la Gloire and into an apartment in the
7th arrondissement of Paris The 7th arrondissement of Paris (''VIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. It is known for being, along with the 16th arrondissement and the ''commune'' of Neuilly-sur-Sein ...
."Focus: Diana Mosley – The last bright young thing"
''The Independent'', 17 August 2003.
Temple de la Gloire was sold in 2000 for £1 million. Throughout much of her life, particularly after her years in prison, she was afflicted by regular bouts of migraines. In 1981, she underwent successful surgery to remove a
brain tumour A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cancero ...
. She convalesced at
Chatsworth House Chatsworth House is a stately home in the Derbyshire Dales, north-east of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield, England. The seat of the Duke of Devonshire, it has belonged to the House of Cavendish, Cavendish family si ...
, the residence of her sister Deborah. In the early 1990s, she was also successfully treated for
skin cancer Skin cancers are cancers that arise from the Human skin, skin. They are due to the development of abnormal cells (biology), cells that have the ability to invade or metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. It occurs when skin cells grow ...
. In later life, she also suffered from deafness. Mosley attended the funeral of René de Chambrun, the son-in-law of Vichy France Prime Minister
Pierre Laval Pierre Jean Marie Laval (; 28 June 1883 – 15 October 1945) was a French politician. He served as Prime Minister of France three times: 1931–1932 and 1935–1936 during the Third Republic (France), Third Republic, and 1942–1944 during Vich ...
, in 2002.


Writer

Mosley was shunned in the British media for a period after the war, and the couple established their own publishing company, Euphorion Books, named after a character in
Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
's ''
Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...
''. This allowed Oswald to publish, and Diana was free to commission a cultural list. After his release from jail, Oswald declared the death of fascism. Diana initially translated Goethe's ''Faust''. Other notable books published by Euphorion under her aegis included ''
La Princesse de Clèves ''La Princesse de Clèves'' (; "The Princess of Cleves") is a French novel which was published anonymously in March 1678. It was regarded by many as the beginning of the modern tradition of the psychological novel and a classic work. Its autho ...
'' (translated by Nancy, 1950),
Niki Lauda Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian racing driver, motorsport executive and aviation entrepreneur, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Lauda won three Formula One World Drivers' Champ ...
's memoirs (1985), and Hans-Ulrich Rudel's memoirs, ''Stuka Pilot''. She also edited several of her husband's books. While in France, Mosley edited the fascist cultural magazine '' The European'' for six years, and to which she sometimes contributed material. She provided articles, book reviews, and regular diary entries. Many of her contributions were republished in 2008 in '' The Pursuit of Laughter''. In 1965, she was commissioned to write the regular column "Letters from Paris" for ''
Tatler ''Tatler'' (stylised in all caps) is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. It focuses on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper and upper-middle c ...
''. She reviewed autobiographical and biographical accounts as well as the occasional novel. Characteristically she would provide commentary of her own experiences and personal information of the subject of the book under discussion. She wrote regularly for ''Books and Bookmen''. Her 1980 review of a biography on Magda Goebbels attracted attention from
Christopher Hitchens Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British and American author and journalist. He was the author of Christopher Hitchens bibliography, 18 books on faith, religion, culture, politics, and literature. He was born ...
. Hitchens objected to a passage where Mosley wrote: "Everyone knows the tragic end. As the Russians surrounded Berlin, the Goebbels painlessly killed their children and then themselves. The dead children were described by people who saw them as looking 'peacefully asleep'. Those who condemn this appalling,
Masada Masada ( ', 'fortress'; ) is a mountain-top fortress complex in the Judaean Desert, overlooking the western shore of the Dead Sea in southeastern Israel. The fort, built in the first century BCE, was constructed atop a natural plateau rising ov ...
-like deed must consider the alternative facing the distraught Magda." Hitchens insisted that the ''
New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...
'' issue an editorial condemning the Masada trope. In her eighties, Mosley became the lead reviewer for the ''
London Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is print ...
'' during A. N. Wilson's seven-year tenure as literary editor.The Pursuit of Laughter by Diana Mosley
London Evening Standard. 5 January 2009
In 1996, following Wilson's departure, his successor was asked by the new editor of the newspaper,
Max Hastings Sir Max Hugh Macdonald Hastings (; born 28 December 1945) is a British journalist and military historian, who has worked as a foreign correspondent for the BBC, editor-in-chief of ''The Daily Telegraph'', and editor of the ''Evening Standard''. ...
to stop running Mosley's reviews. Hastings is reported to have said that he did not want any more "bloody Lady Hitler" in the newspaper. Mosley wrote the foreword and introduction of ''Nancy Mitford: A Memoir'' by Harold Acton. She produced her own two books of memoirs: ''
A Life of Contrasts A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...
'' (1977,
Hamish Hamilton Hamish Hamilton Limited is a publishing imprint and originally a British publishing house, founded in 1931 eponymously by the half- Scot half- American Jamie Hamilton (''Hamish'' is the vocative form of the Gaelic Seumas eaning James ''Jame ...
), and '' Loved Ones'' (1985). The latter is a collection of pen portraits of close relatives and friends such as the writer
Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...
among others. In 1980, she released '' The Duchess of Windsor'', a biography. In 2007, letters between the Mitford sisters, including communications to and from Diana, were published in the compilation '' The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters'', edited by Charlotte Mosley. A following collection consisting of her letters, articles, diaries and reviews was released as '' The Pursuit of Laughter'' in December 2008.


Death

Mosley died in Paris in August 2003, aged 93. Her cause of death was given as complications related to a stroke she had suffered a week earlier, but reports later surfaced that she had been one of the many elderly fatalities of the heat wave of 2003 in mostly non-air-conditioned Paris. She was buried at St Mary's Churchyard,
Swinbrook Swinbrook is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Swinbrook and Widford, in the West Oxfordshire district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is on the River Windrush, about east of Burford. Widford, Oxfordshire, Widf ...
, Oxfordshire, alongside her sisters. She was survived by her four sons: Jonathan and Desmond Guinness, and Alexander and
Max Mosley Max Rufus Mosley (13 April 1940 – 23 May 2021) was a British businessman, lawyer and racing driver. He served as president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the Sport governing body, governing body for Formula One. A ...
. Her stepson Nicholas Mosley was a novelist who also wrote a critical memoir of his father for which Mosley reportedly never forgave him, despite their previously close relationship. A great-granddaughter, Jasmine Guinness, a great-niece, Stella Tennant and a granddaughter, Daphne Guinness are models. British journalist Andrew Roberts criticised Mosley following her death in the pages of ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' (16 August 2003), reporting that when he interviewed her for his book ''Eminent Churchillians'', she had surprised him by not serving up a "David Irving-style refutation" of the Holocaust by declaring "I'm sure he itlerwas to blame for the extermination of the Jews. He was to blame for everything, and I say that as someone who approved of him." However, her other remarks about Hitler showed the lifelong "same disdain for equivocation" she had always displayed, prompting him to call her an "unrepentant Nazi and effortlessly charming", and her views "disgusting, unchanged" and "repulsive". A. N. Wilson wrote for the same newspaper and said that her public loyalty for Oswald and Hitler were disastrous mistakes, claiming that privately Mosley had admitted that the Nazis were "really rather awful". Three days later, letters to the editor from both her son, Jonathan Guinness, Lord Moyne, and his daughter (her granddaughter), Daphne Guinness, attempted to refute Roberts' statements by citing her "lack of hypocrisy", claiming Mosley's "upper-class etiquette" would prohibit giving any sort of explanation or an apology to a journalist, and that regardless of her giving a Hitler salute during the singing of ''God Save The King'' in 1935, she was never a threat to wartime Britain. A sarcastic commentary by Canadian columnist
Mark Steyn Mark Steyn () is a Canadian author and a radio, television, and on-line presenter. He has written several books, including The New York Times Best Seller list, ''The New York Times'' bestsellers ''America Alone'', ''After America (Steyn book), A ...
appeared in the same issue. He described Mosley’s unwavering allegiance to Hitler and fascism as that of "a silly kid". An equally "indulgently dismissive attitude" of her opinions was seconded in the Sunday edition in an interview with her stepson Nicholas Mosley, with whom she had refused to speak for over two decades after the publication of ''Beyond the Pale'', his unfavourable memoir of her husband.


In literature and film

Mosley inspired the protagonist of the 2018 novel ''After the Party'' by Cressida Connolly. She is portrayed extensively in the sixth and final season of '' Peaky Blinders'' by
Amber Anderson Amber Felicity Rose Anderson (born 5 March 1992) is a British actress, pianist and model. On television, she is known for her roles as Ciara Porter in the crime drama ''Strike'' (2017) and Diana Mitford Diana, Lady Mosley (''née'' Mitford; ...
.


Bibliography

*''
A Life of Contrasts A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...
'' (1977) *'' Loved Ones'' (1985) *'' The Duchess of Windsor'' (1980) *'' The Pursuit of Laughter'' (2008) * Provided introduction and foreword to ''Nancy Mitford: A Memoir'' by Harold Acton (1975) * Collection of letters between the six Mitford sisters: '' The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters'' (2007)


Sources

* * * (French edition) * * * * *


References


External links


Diana Mosley: The MI5 View
– new files released from the National Archives shed new light on M15 surveillance of Mosley
The Official Nancy Mitford Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosley, Diana 1910 births 2003 deaths 20th-century English businesspeople 20th-century English businesswomen 20th-century English diarists 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English diarists 21st-century English women writers 20th-century British translators British debutantes English expatriates in France Daughters of barons English biographers English non-fiction writers English publishers (people) People detained under Defence Regulation 18B People from Belgravia English magazine editors English women magazine editors Diana Guinness family British Holocaust deniers English socialites English British Union of Fascist politicians Mosley family Union Movement politicians British women diarists Wives of baronets British women magazine editors English prisoners and detainees Translators of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe English book editors English Nazis Women fascists