Prince Charles is expected to pay his respects at the funeral of the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, Deborah Mitford.The Prince of Wales will most likely travel to Derbyshire to join other mourners at the Chatsworth estate late on Thursday morning. Staff from Chatsworth House will line the route to St Peter's Church in Edensor, the estate said.
© Photo: Getty ImagesAt 11.15am the cortege will depart the stately home and travel through the park, arriving at Edensor at 11.50 for the funeral at noon. When the Duchess – the last of the famous Mitford sisters – died last month at the age of 94, Charles issued a personal tribute, in which he spoke of his and the Duchess of Cornwall's "deep sadness". "We shall miss her so very much," he said, describing her as a character who "will not easily be forgotten". He continued: "She was a unique personality with a wonderfully original approach to life, and a memorable turn of phrase to match that originality. "The joy, pleasure and amusement she gave to so many, particularly through her books, as well as the contribution she made to Derbyshire throughout her time at Chatsworth, will not easily be forgotten and we shall miss her so very much. "The Dowager Duchess, known to her friends as Debo, was the last of the Mitford sisters, who both fascinated, and occasionally scandalised, British society in the 1940s.
The most notorious of the siblings were Unity, who was a friend of Hitler, and Diana, the second wife of British fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley. Jessica was a left-wing activist, and Nancy, a novelist. Born Deborah Vivien Freeman-Mitford on 31 March 1920, the Duchess was the sixth daughter of the 2nd Baron Redesdale. She moved to Chatsworth in the Peak District after marrying Andrew Cavendish, who became the 11th Duke of Devonshire, and proved to have a shrewd business mind; she transformed the house from ruin into a leading tourist attraction – last year Chatsworth attracted more than 600,000 visitors.
