Unity Mitford: Devotion, Delusion, and a Bullet for Hitler.
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Unity Mitford’s story is one of the most disturbing, surreal, and tragic chapters in the Mitford family saga. A woman of striking appearance and obsessive personality, she was born into English aristocracy and yet became fixated on Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime. While her sisters pursued literature, communism, or country life, Unity Valkyrie Mitford dove headfirst into fascism—and became one of the few British citizens to personally befriend Hitler. Her story is about ideology, obsession, delusion and devotion.
The Canadian Connection
Unity Valkyrie Freeman-Mitford was born on August 8, 1914, in London—but her origin myth traces back to the wilds of Canada. She was conceived in the remote mining town of Swastika, Ontario, where her father, Lord David Freeman-Mitford, had invested in a gold mine during a short-lived boom. The town’s name, Swastika, would later take on a chilling resonance given Unity’s fascist loyalties.
Her middle name, 'Valkyrie,' was chosen by her grandfather, drawn from Norse mythology evoking Wagnerian operas, Germanic war maidens, and Aryan myth. These ideas appealed deeply to Hitler who included them in his twisted Nazi ideology.
These ‘coincidences’ of Unity were not lost on Adolf Hitler. He was highly superstitious, and considered meeting Unity ‘his destiny,’ and convinced she had been sent by fate to help the cause.
The Hitler Obsession
In the early 1930s, Unity became obsessed with Adolf Hitler. While other young women admired movie stars, Unity collected Nazi memorabilia and devoured fascist writings. At age 19, she moved to Munich and was determined to meet Hitler. Along with learning German, she began frequenting his favorite restaurant, Osteria Bavaria. Unity was blonde, blue-eyed and aristocratic and let the maître d’ know she love to meet the Führer.
Finally, on February 9th, 1935, her patience paid off when Hitler’s adjutant noticed her and invited her to join Hitler at his table. Unity was ecstatic. In her diary that evening she wrote, '(this was) the most wonderful day of my life. I am now a friend of Hitler. I was at his table with him for over half an hour.’
What followed was a deep friendship and entrée into Hitler’s inner circle. No other Brit had this access. Incredibly, between 1935 and 1939, she met with Hitler more than 140 times, attending rallies, parades and dinners at which she sat beside him.
Eva Braun, Hitler’s longstanding mistress grew increasingly jealous of Unity’s access to Hitler and their frequent public appearances together. Describing Unity, Eva Braun wrote in her diary, 'she’s known as the Valkyrie and looks the part including her legs. I, the mistress of the greatest man in Germany and the whole world, sit here waiting, while the sun mocks me through the windowpanes.’ This line translated from German sources underscores Eva's sense of frustration and insecurity.
Unity was one of the very few women permitted into Hitler's private circle and received lavish gifts including a gold swastika badge and VIP seats for her and Diana at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. She submitted essays to Der Stürmer, a notoriously antisemitic Nazi newspaper, and began to act as an informal propagandist, particularly to sway British aristocrats toward sympathy with fascism.
The Suicide Attempt
When Britain declared war on Germany in September 1939, Unity was devastated. She could not bear the idea of her homeland fighting the man she worshipped. On September 3, 1939, she went to the Englischer Garten (English Garden) in Munich, one of the city’s grand parks, and shot herself in the head with a pistol given to her by Hitler’s inner circle. Hitler wept when he heard of her suicide attempt. In a regime where compassion was rare, it speaks volumes about how unique Unity’s place in Hitler's life was.
Amazingly, Unity survived. The bullet lodged in her brain and could not be removed. She was found alive, rushed to a hospital, and eventually repatriated to Britain in early 1940 with the help of her father. Doctors were astonished she had survived at all. But she would never fully recover. Her speech, memory, and mobility were severely impaired, and she had the mind of a young child for the rest of her life.
Return to England and Decline
Back in Britain, Unity lived quietly under the care of her mother, Lady Redesdale and her elder sister Pam. She was mentally and physically diminished, but still capable of conversation and moments of lucidity. However, her days of politics and public appearances were over. She never renounced her support for Hitler. In fact, she seemed to believe he remained ‘good at heart.’
Unity died on May 28, 1948, from meningitis caused by the bullet still lodged in her brain. She was only 33 years old. Her grave is in the family plot in Oxfordshire. Her death was mourned privately by her family, who rarely spoke of her in later years.
Legacy and Recoil
Unity Mitford remains one of the most haunting figures of the 1930s. Her obsessive devotion to fascism, her intimacy with one of history’s greatest villains, and her tragic self-destruction mark her as both cautionary tale and historical curiosity.
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Take a moment to explore our bold new portrait of Unity Mitford, created in the modernist post-war style with an expressionist edge, part of our exclusive *Mitford Series* collection.