Fizz and Sparkle: The Effervescent Life of Deborah, The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire 

What an extraordinary person. Surely one of the most beautiful woman in the world. How lucky were the people who knew you. I feel life is so sad. One minute I too was young and enjoying life. Now I am old, my husband died 9 months ago after 58 years together. I am unable to walk but am blessed to live in the country. It must be wonderful to come from a large family. I watched a video on utube about how the Duchess started decorating an old vicarage and started a new garden in her 80s. She was very special. ❤️

“Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?”― Tennessee Williams...........

This interview is a gem. The last living Mitford sister. Such a graceful lady.

I live 5 miles from chatsworth and often visit debos and Andrews resting places in the Edensor churchyard. Lovely lady.

Chatsworth was wonderful the first time I visited ten years ago ...and justly so last Christmas all decorated up for the season. A wonderful place to visit wit so many beautiful artefacts.

Absolutely, fantastic, and interesting woman Debo! I did get to me the Dowager Duchess at Chatsworth about 10 years ago. I was 15 and she was such a wonderful conversationalist. We talked about the grounds of Chatsworth, about the artworks, and about her enormous Devonshire tiara. All in all about an hour was spent just talking. She was so obliging and was very quick to put me at ease. I liked her very much.

Her hearing at 90 is much better than mine at 64. She picked up the questions from the audience which I couldn’t hear at all.

I was pleased to find out that the woman interviewing the Duchess is Charlotte Marten Mosley who is the wife of the Duchess’ nephew Alexander Mosley. His mother was Diana Mitford, the Duchess’ sister. Charlotte edited the Mitford sisters’ letters that she is referencing at times.

This women is my great aunt. I currently live in nyc. I was left a great inheritance from her. Considering I met the women no more the 10 times my whole life.

I had great fun thanks to this lovely lovely woman

Did you know that Debo was a huge Elvis fan and had his music played at her funeral.

So happy to brag that I knew her.

This is wonderful. Debo has a beautiful voice and is such a gracious lady. The Mitfords are such a fascinating family.

Thank you so much for this wonderful interview, The Frick. Wonderful to hear.

So very Brilliant. A Star was lost, but you captured it for us❤️. Thank You.

Charming. Tales of a lost era.

I love how she says, "Oh Jack"

We can NEVER get enough of history!

Happy belated 94th birthday Debo!!!

fabulous....The Duchess is so droll and amusing....not many people like this left now.R.I.P.

She was witty, intelligent and understated. She was elegant and self-deprecating. I wanted to know her.

She was a bit of giggle unlike many on this planet.

What a pleasure to listen to this grand lady!

She's so humourous

'Counting My Chickens' is a delightful read. Also, don't miss her letters to and from Patrick Leigh Fermor, 'In Tearing Haste'. I think she may have been one of the best writers among the Mitford sisters.

I had read all the books on The Mitford Sisters , so fascinating .

Wonderful. Thank you for uploading. “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” - L.P. Hartley One only wishes it possible to return to that 'country'.

Patrick Leigh Fermor RIP. Thank you from Greece.

Great interview

That wonderful Mitford drawl - how we’ll miss it!

The Duchess appears at about the 6 minute mark, for those who might want to spare themselves the introductory chatter

All day I've been reading DDD's memoir "Wait for Me". The chapters on World War 2 brought me several times to tears. It isn't just the sorrow of those days, the loss of so very many loved ones, but also her unpretentious, beautiful, evocative style which barely veils the personal tragedies she endured. Interesting that the Duke warned in the 1980's of the danger of the rise of militant Islamism.

Her timing is marvellous.

WHAT A VOICE THIS DUCHESS HAS.

Fascinating. I love her. Thanks so much for the upload! I learned so much. And her writing style is magnificent.

An extraordinary woman, I visited Chatsworth for the first time a few weeks ago, her presence permeated the place although I had never, until later, researched it, the Mitfords were an example of the gradual change that occurred in the political thinking of the newer, more enlightened, less shielded, members of the aristocracy, Fascists, Communists, Capitalists, what fun evening meals must have been.

Simply wonderful.

"In Tearing Haste" is a wonderful book. Paddy and Debo had a marvelous correspondence lasting decades that is such a delight to read. Highly recommend this book and any of The Duchess's memoirs.

Another camera angle would have been nice. Would have been nice to have seen her face.

A wonderful, beautiful woman . Thank you for sharing.

So enjoyable!

How I would have loved to be her friend! RIP Debo. What a gem. So glad I got to visit Chatsworth House last year. Extraordinary! Update 2019: I just have to watch this now and then. Laughed until tears rolled again at the "Hubbling Bubbling Gland!"

Fabulous Lady!!!!

What a wonderful interview - I love it.

A wonderful interview, and very worthwhile listening to for anyone who is a fan of the Mitford family, the books that some of them wrote, and the history of that period in general.

Beautiful

Regardless of Politics. How many people of the 20th Century can profess to have had tea with amongst others Winston Churchill, Jack and Bobby Kennedy. The Queen. George Vl, Queen Mother, Earl Mountbatten, Charles De Gaulle and ... Adolf Hitler However, not necessarily at the same time!

She was a real Lady! RIP! Noblesse oblige is a French phrase literally meaning "nobility obliges". The Dictionnaire de l’Académie française defines it thus: ⁕Whoever claims to be noble must conduct himself nobly. ⁕ One must act in a fashion that conforms to one's position, and with the reputation that one has earned. The Oxford English Dictionary says that the term "suggests noble ancestry constrains to honorable behavior; privilege entails to responsibility." Being a noble meant that one had responsibilities to lead, manage and so on. One was not to simply spend one's time in idle pursuits.

I do hppe that these distinguished families will prosper and prosper financially to defend and protect all the wonderful legacies.

RIP Debo

just lovely

so glad I found this! Paddy in the bath with his black socks on did make me laugh

Her nature is revealed when she makes eye contact and thanks the anonymous assistant.

cannot believe no one made a series, along the production of The Crown style, about this entire family. starting w/ period piece & their strange ,various politics & social lives. while marching thru the 20th century. Here's "2010", Her father was born in 1878(!). g5, 25 Oct2022

Simply wonderful, ausgezeichnet!

Very charming lady ....and a very interesting life. Sad to hear she died yesterday

I met her on a School trip many years ago and found her to be very down to earth but her husband the Duke was a bit stuffy, i belive she was the driving force behind 'Chatsworth' being more accessible

I truly enjoyed this. thank you

Bygone era. Class.

Many thanks for this.

A sparkling Grande Dame indeed. Never met her, but I once got lost in her yew maze at Chatsworth when I was a nipper, I still have this mild dislike of overly trimmed shrubberies. Didn't know she corresponded with Paddy Fermor for such a long time... my copy of 'In Tearing Haste' arrived today.

I never laugh at comedy or comedians , I am a bit weird, but this had me giggling.

Jolly marvellous

Poor Debo. Such a mad, mad family. Her poor brother Tom gone as a very young man… her sister/ brother in law early deaths…Her dull marriage was full of drama sudden changes. Later later her husband a drinker who never got over his sudden succession ranting and barking the rest of his life. A very strange existence. The anecdotes are of course humorous yet the change of the political winds must had been so draining for her. Especially as she watched everyone die before her one by one by one from her palace window…

A remarkable woman for sure

Old pre 1066 family! Wow!

So, why did that woman literally toss that blanket onto the Duchess' lap? How completely rude.

RIP

Is this the sister who was neither a communist nor a nazi? How refreshing! Sometimes, though not often, there's something to be said for staid, conventional and unimaginative.

We use a missal and mine was £58 and I think I left in on a chapel pew on Sunday and I ask Our Blessed Mother to show me where I left it.

At <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1461">24:21</a> caption should read "Dinky, her daughter with Esmond Romilly" not "Esmond, probably".

I want the book !

Jessica's nickname is not "Decker" but "Decca". Could you correct that in the captions? (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="913">15:13</a> and on)

A wonderful interview! I noticed however that whenever the location of Chatsworth was mentioned (Derbyshire), the subtitles showed it as Devonshire...

Correction: you got LISMORE and County WATERFORD wrong on the sub.

The captions are wrong: <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="3271">54:31</a>, it's Lord Mountbatten, not Lord Mount Baton.

Very different life lived than us ordinary folk.

The subtitles refer t Drew Heims. It is rather HEINZ, as in the 57 varieties. (Not sure if it should be Drue and not Drew!)

Chatsworth. Best of the grand houses?

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1208">20:08</a> The poem goes "The hounds and the horses..." not "the hands on the horses".

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="986">16:26</a>: The Duchess is referring to cotton wool, not a cotton ball.

She mistakenly thought that Horace was a G reek poet. Paddy carried with him the Loeb edition of Horace, a Latin poet of Augustan Rome.

Oh dear, it's governesses not "governances" at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1145">19:05</a> and Esmond Romilly at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1278">21:18</a>. And so on.

It's Official: that vintage has gone FLAT.

may i know he name of the anochour?

Cool, Frick

I LOVE YOU,.

The German general was Kreipe.

Wow, that interviewer just threw that blanket at her. So rude.

Why does she call Edmond (Romilly), Decca's first husband, Desmond?

I believe she means "El Rocío" not "El Rochero" in Spain.

big lady....

What a ridiculously long intro, too bad

I enjoyed a very different kind of laugh which I have not had the fortune of experiencing for a long time. Those who speak against aristocracies are tasteless and thoughtless.

God bless the Mosley’s and Mitfords.

She talks more posh than the Queen!!!!

The same tone of voice than her sister Diana...

Anna. Mitford. Hael. New York What. Is. Middle. Initial. Of. Husband. Tomas. Hael?? Wedding date. Of. Anna. Mitford. And. Tomas. Hael.??

She has access to some of the best cream on the planet.

I am still a servant in service to the dollar It was the responsibility of the other servants to inform the new maid not to do her work. Therefore I view this story is one created by the knowledge of the others serving. To see the Lord upset at the expense of a girl to amuse their own needs ....???? Perspective from a servant in a position that is dependent on the servant hierarchy.