Lady Mosley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Diana Freeman-Mitford 17 June 1910 London, England |
| Died | 11 August 2003 (aged 93) Paris, France |
| Occupation(s) | Author, reviewer |
| Spouses | |
| Children | Jonathan Guinness, 3rd Baron Moyne Hon. Desmond Guinness Alexander Mosley Max Mosley |
| Parents |
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| Relatives | See Mitford family |
Diana, Lady Mosley (née Mitford; 17 June 1910 – 11 August 2003), known as Diana Guinness between 1929 and 1936, was a British aristocrat, writer, editor and fascist sympathiser. She was one of the Mitford sisters and the wife of Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists.
Initially married to Bryan Guinness, heir to the barony of Moyne, who were both part of the Bright Young Things, a social group of young Bohemian 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, Joseph Goebbels, with Adolf Hitler as a guest of honour. Her involvement with fascist political causes resulted in three years' internment during the Second World War, 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 and edited the magazine The European.[1] In 1977, she published her autobiography, A Life of Contrasts,[2] and two more biographies in the 1980s.[3]
Mosley's 1989 appearance on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs was controversial due to her Holocaust denial and admiration of Hitler.[4] She was also a regular book reviewer for Books and Bookmen and later at The Evening Standard in the 1990s.[5] A family friend, James Lees-Milne, wrote of her beauty, "She was the nearest thing to Botticelli's Venus that I have ever seen".[6][7] She was described by obituary writers such as the historian Andrew Roberts as "unrepentant" about her previous political associations.[8][9][6]
- ^ Mitford, Diana (2008). The Pursuit of Laughter. Gibson Square books.
- ^ Dalley, Jan. "Diana Mosley". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
- ^ "Diana Mitford". The Independent. 13 August 2003.[dead link]
- ^ Sawer, Patrick (12 February 2022). "BBC fails to put content warning on Holocaust denial Desert Island Discs episode". The Telegraph. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
- ^ Hastings, Selina (20 December 2008). "Friends and Enemies". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 8 May 2010.
- ^ a b Lyall, Sarah (14 August 2003). "Lady Diana Mosley, Fascist Who Dazzled, Is Dead at 93". World. The New York Times.
- ^ Callan, Paul (12 September 2009). "Hitler's aristocratic admirers". Daily Express.
- ^ Diana Mosley, unrepentantly Nazi and effortlessly charming The Telegraph. 13 August 2003
- ^ Diana Mosley, Hitler's angel, dies unrepentant in Paris The Guardian. 13 August 2003