Sadly on September 24th, Deborah, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire peacefully passed away at the grand age of 94.

Formerly Deborah Mitford, the youngest of the six Mitford girls, she was probably the most normal of all the girls and lived the longest of them all.  She had the most fascinating of lives and wrote quite a few books regarding her time as caretaker, with her Husband the 11th Duke, of Chatsworth House.

DH and I got to meet her at an event held at Chatsworth in the late 1980’s and she was very normal and down to earth. 

In one of her books she only complained once about the size of Chatsworth House and that “It is a terrible place to house train a puppy.  Letting a dog out in the night is quite a performance, including the complicated unlocking of monster doors”!

A great quote and probably something none of us ever thought about when visiting Chatsworth, that not only is it a beautiful National Treasure it is also a family home.

RIP

Deborah, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire

31 March 1920 – 24 September 2014

Hugs, Susie x