This week, the Duke of Devonshire announced the death of his mother, Deborah, at the age of 94. Born the youngest of the famous Mitford sisters, the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire was the chatelaine of Chatsworth House, one of the grandest estates in England, for more than half a century. As you can imagine, the job came with the opportunity to wear some impressive heirloom jewels. Here’s a look at some of the jewelry worn by Debo during her lifetime.
Banquet held by the Royal Society of St. George, 1954
With her husband, the 11th Duke, at the Dorchester Hotel, 1955. The ruby and diamond clasp of her pearl necklace was a Cavendish family heirloom; the necklace became Deborah’s signature piece of jewelry
At the Dorchester Hotel, 1961. Deborah wears the smaller of the two Devonshire diamond tiaras; she also wore the tiara at the 1953 coronation, where the larger Devonshire tiara was worn by her mother-in-law, then the Mistress of the Robes. At the coronation, Deborah was described by Cecil Beaton as “the most beautiful of all … with her hair dressed wide to contain an Edwardian cake-like crown — a Cavendish heirloom” [1]. Her appearance at the coronation was especially striking because she wore the eighteenth-century robes of one of her predecessors, Georgiana, the famous wife of the 5th Duke. The Devonshires also have an unusual Victorian intaglio parure; Deborah wears it here
At the opening of the Chatsworth Farm Shop in London, 2000
Attending a memorial service for Sir Hardy Amies, 2003
With her chickens at Chatsworth, 1995
NOTES
1. Quoted in Diana Scarisbrick’s Ancestral Jewels, p. 153.
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