Celebrating Deborah Devonshire Exhibition
14 March to 31 October 2010
In honour of the 90th birthday of Deborah, now Dowager Duchess of Devonshire and the last surviving Mitford sister, we mark the nine eventful decades of her life with a special exhibition, free with house admission, illustrating her many interests and achievements. Fascinating personal mementos and keepsakes personally chosen by her Grace, much never seen before, offer a unique insight into the Dowager Duchess's life and work, from her childhood in Oxfordshire and marriage, her friendships with people as diverse as Lucian Freud, Evelyn Waugh, Jack Kennedy, Tom Stoppard and Alan Titchmarsh, to her many years of public service, and current well-earned status as a best-selling author and national treasure.
Deborah comments: "Putting this exhibition together has meant thinking back over the nine decades of my life so far, and trying to gather together mementos and photographs that will interest visitors to Chatsworth this year. I hope people will enjoy the wide range of things on view, from Paris dresses and works of art I love, to family photographs and a telephone from the gift shop at Graceland. I have been lucky enough to know many fascinating people and be involved in local and national organisations and good causes, and the displays will reflect these."