The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, the Duke of Wellington and Lady Macmillan recall the debutante season of 1939. They reveal how the upper classes' diaries were packed with invitations to luncheon parties, dances and social occasions such as Ascot, Henley and the Chelsea Flower Show, as women desperately sought wealthy husbands. While Europe was steeling itself in the face of fascist aggression, the upper-class marriage market was in full swing, and here the participants talk vividly about the parties, ballgowns and broken hearts.
Also in this video about 20 mins or so in is Kathleen "Kit" Agnes Kenndy (1920-1948) daughter of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Kennedy; sister of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy; and wife of the Marquess of Hartington, heir apparent to the 10th Duke of Devonshire. Working with the Red Cross, she began a romantic relationship with Lord Hartington---William John Robert Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington whom she married in May 1944. He was killed on active service in Belgium only four months later. Kathleen died in a plane crash in 1948, flying to the south of France while on vacation with her new partner, the 8th Earl Fitzwilliam--William Henry Lawrence Peter Wentworth-Fitzwilliam
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