Nancy Milford

In 1921, after years of pleading for proper schooling, Nancy was allowed a year's boarding at Hatherop Castle, an informal private establishment for young ladies of good family. Laura Thompson, in her biography of Nancy, describes Hatherop as not so much a school, "more a chaste foretaste of debutante life".[38]Here Nancy learned French and other subjects, played organised games and joined aGirl Guidetroop. It was her first extended experience of life away from home, and she enjoyed it.[37]The following year she was allowed to accompany four other girls on a cultural trip to Paris, Florence and Venice; her letters home are full of expressions of wonder at the sights and treasures: "I had no idea I was so fond of pictures = ... if only I had a room of my own I would make it a regular picture gallery".[39] Nancy, in full anti-fascist mode, had described her sister to the British Intelligence agencyMI5as "a ruthless and shrewd egotist, a devoted fascist and admirer of Hitler [who] sincerely desires the downfall of England and democracy in general".[83][n 8]During the "Phoney War" of 1939–1940, Nancy was briefly anAir Raid Precautions(ARP) driver, and later worked shifts at a first-aid post inPaddington.[86]She drew on those experiences in her fourth novel,Pigeon Pie, a comedy about spying. It was published byHamish Hamiltonin May 1940, while there was little public appetite for lighthearted war satire, and the book was a commercial failure.[87] ^The terms "U and Non-U" entered the language permanently; Thompson argues that the notoriety associated withNoblesse Obligecame to haunt Mitford, partly by branding her in some eyes as a "super-snob" and partly by distracting attention from her serious writing.The Daily Telegraph's obituary in 1973 was headed: "Nancy Mitford, U and Non-U creator, dies at 68".[123]