As long ago as 1960 the prescient Malcolm Muggeridge wrote: ‘To survive in the new climate of ostensible egalitarianism the upper class and the monarchy have to become a soap opera. The Mitfords have made a considerable contribution towards showing how this can be done.’

This ‘establishing episode’ was Nancy Mitford’s semi-autobiographical novel The Pursuit of Love, which appeared to great acclaim in 1945. Rather later it was followed by her sisters’ and other participants’ non-fiction versions of the same events. The story described Nancy’s own childhood in light disguise: Uncle Matthew (Farve), Aunt Sadie