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LONDON (AP) — Deborah, the dowager duchess of Devonshire, the last of the witty, unconventional Mitford sisters, died Wednesday, her son said. She was 94.
Brought up in Oxfordshire, England, Deborah was the youngest of the six sisters, including the novelist and historian Nancy Mitford, and writer and social activist Jessica Mitford. Two other sisters were infamous for their right-wing politics. Unity was a friend of Adolf Hitler, and Diana, was the second wife of Sir Oswald Mosley, founder of the British Union of Fascists.
Unmoved by her sisters' associations, Deborah told the Daily Telegraph in 2012 that Hitler made little impression on her when she joined her mother and Unity for tea with Nazi leader in 1937.
"Well, I've never been very interested in politics, you see," she told the newspaper. "And the truth is that I didn't give it much thought. If you sat in a room with Churchill you were aware of this tremendous charisma. Kennedy had it, too. But Hitler didn't — not to me anyway."
Deborah Vivien Freeman-Mitford was born March 31, 1920, and educated with her sisters at the family's country home.
Known as "Debo," she was more focused on domestic life than her sisters, marrying Andrew Cavendish, who later became the 11th Duke of Devonshire. Together they transformed Chatsworth House from a deteriorating pile into one of the most-visited historical properties in Britain.
The vast estate includes a 17th Century stately home featuring 175 rooms surrounded by 35,000 acres of land in the heart of a national park in Derbyshire, central England. She ran the estate's Chatsworth Farm Shop, selling local game, meat, eggs, cheese, fruit and vegetables.
After her husband's death in 2004, she moved to a village on the Chatsworth estate.
Less-well known than her famous siblings, she was nonetheless an author in her own right. Among her books are "Wait for Me!: Memoirs of the Youngest Mitford Sister" and "Home to Roost: And Other Peckings," a collection of essays on subjects ranging from flower arranging to the death of John F. Kennedy, as well as "In Tearing Haste: Letters Between Deborah Devonshire and Patrick Leigh Fermor."
Her son, Peregrine Cavendish, the 12th Duke of Devonshire, announced his mother's death in a statement. No further detail was offered.
Among those offering condolences were Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
"She was a unique personality with a wonderfully original approach to life, and a memorable turn of phrase to match that originality," he said in a statement. "The joy, pleasure and amusement she gave to so many, particularly through her books, as well as the contribution she made to Derbyshire throughout her time at Chatsworth, will not easily be forgotten and we shall miss her so very much."
She is survived by her son and daughters Lady Emma Tennant and Lady Sophie Topley. She also leaves eight grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren.
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