LONDON (AP) — Chatsworth House says the last of Britain’s famous Mitford sisters, Deborah, the dowager duchess of Devonshire has died. She was 94.
Her son, the Duke of Devonshire, announced her death in a statement Tuesday. No further detail was offered.
The youngest of six sisters and one brother, Deborah shunned the political alliances for which the Mitfords were famous.
One of the sisters, Unity, was a friend of Adolf Hitler; another, Diana, was the second wife of Sir Oswald Mosley, the founder of the British Union of Fascists. Jessica, a left-leaning journalist who lived much of her life in Oakland, Calif., was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee.
But “Debo” was focused on a domestic life, transforming Chatsworth from deteriorating hulk into one of the most-visited historical properties in Britain. The vast estate is surrounded by 35,000 acres of land in the heart of a national park in Derbyshire county, central England.
