It is difficult to delve too deeply into the history of 1930s Britain, whether real or alternative, without encountering one or more of the (mostly impossible, but by contemporaneous acclaim, very beautiful) Mitford sisters:
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| Just one of the latest books devoted to the lives of the Mitford sisters - who seem to have spawned (whether individually or collectively) their own posthumous publishing industry. |
The interesting question, as yet unconsidered by any of the tomes devoted to the Mitford sisters, is what each of them would have done upon the outbreak of the Very British Civil War in 1936/1937, when Edward VIII resolved to marry Wallis Simpson and make her Queen of England, leading both to the resignation of Baldwin as Prime Minister and the then Leader of the Opposition, Clement Attlee's famous "refusal to serve" his King as constitutional successor [1]:
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| A composite of the Mitford sisters in the 1930s. What would they have done on the outbreak of the VBCW ? |
It is an important convention of the VBCW - for the avoidance of unhappiness and controversy, and with limited exceptions - that real people should not be "written in" to our alternative history. Exceptions are mostly made for those very much 'in the public eye' , and whose political position at the time was clear, or at least capable of being extrapolated without the dreaded controversy.
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| The six - drawn by William Acton, 1938 From top left - Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica, Deborah. Subsequently caricatured by Times journalist Ben McIntyre as "Diana the Fascist, Jessica the Communist, Unity the Hitler-lover; Nancy the Novelist; Deborah the Duchess and Pamela the unobtrusive poultry connoisseur". |
Thankfully, however, at least half of the Mitford sisters were very much 'in the public eye' during the 1930s, and at least half (the same half) then had very clearly defined (and extreme) public political positions - Diana and Unity were declared Fascists, while Jessica was an undoubted Communist. There can therefore be little objection to at least these three having a "28mm equivalent" and taking an appropriate side in the Hereford VBCW....
Notes
[1]. The question - "What would they have done?" in the event of the outbreak of a Very British Civil War - has previously been asked of Hereford's principal pre war aviator - Randolph Trafford - and of the contemporaneous Hereford City Council - with only tentative results. Bearing in mind the VBCW convention above, it is easier to be clear about certain individuals - Neville Chamberlain, for example, serves as "a Peace Envoy" in the Hereford VBCW, although in other VBCW timelines, he may be heavily engaged in the Civil War in Birmingham.
[2]. An interesting essay "The Pursuit of Love - Why are we still so obsessed with the Mitford Sisters ?" can be found HERE. "How to tell if you are a Mitford Sister" is HERE
[3]. A valuable "Timeline" documentary on the Mitfords, concentrating on the political extremes, is HERE
