Tea at Trianon: Hitler's Love Child?

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, December 14, 2007

Hitler's Love Child?

This is pretty wild, but then anything having to do with the Mitford sisters usually is. (Via LRC) Nancy is not mentioned by name in the Hitler article at all, which is odd, since she was the most famous. I will never forget reading Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love on a plane to Germany when I was nineteen, and enjoying it immensely. Stories about eccentric families with strong, clashing personalities always interested me, particularly because they reminded me of my own family. But there is no family who quite compares with the Mitfords, who had Jessica the socialist, Diana the fascist, and Unity, who allegedly was in love with Hitler. Very odd indeed. The only "boring" sister was Deborah, who married the Duke of Devonshire, and still lives at Chatsworth. Share

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: The article says that the Mitfords are the subject of everything from tabloid to theatre to lyrics to novels and historical biographies, much akin to Diana. Yet I never heard of them! (Not that I ever recall, at least.) I can see reason for the fascination with them in Europe. What an interesting bunch!

Also, I don't think I ever gave it much thought about Hitler's not having any children. But now that you mention it, isn't it odd that one who supposedly believed his race to be superior to all in the world -- and assuming that he would naturally think of himself as being the prime example of his race -- isn't it odd that he had never married and tried to populate the world with many little Hitlers? It doesn't seem consistent.; December 16, 2007 at 3:26:00 AM EST
elena maria vidal said...: I think they mean in England there is a lot about the Mitfords, not around here.; December 16, 2007 at 9:35:00 AM EST
Anonymous said...: No, they are very well known over here thanks to Decca (the communist), who wrote THE AMERICAN WAY OF DEATH and put the kibosh on the American funeral industry for some years. Also, Debo Devonshire is far from boring! She took over Chatsworth, the Devonshire family seat, and put the place firmly into the black when it looked as though they would have to give it up because of death duties. Charlotte Mosley, Diana's daughter-in-law, has been the one most responsible for publishing their letters (Nancy's to Evelyn Waugh and vice versa are laugh-out-loud funny), and she just edited a collection called THE SISTERS, containing the internecine correspondence of all six. It is a wonderful introduction to them if you haven't much knowledge. And Debo comes across as far and away the nicest, if not the smartest.

Simon; December 17, 2007 at 12:53:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Thanks, Simon, that is helpful. Oh, I don't think Debo is boring at all; I love what she has done with Chatsworth. (I should do a post on it.) I would love to read the correspondence between Nancy and Evelyn Waugh; I can only imagine how hilarious that would be. Nancy's bio of Madame de Pompadour is interesting, except that sometimes it is hard to tell where Nancy's life ends and where Madame de Pompadour's begins. I can't get over how she describes the Parc aux Cerfs as a "nice little brothel."; December 17, 2007 at 1:12:00 PM EST