Lady Dorothy Macmillan

"Dorothy Cavendish" redirects here. For the 18th-century woman of the same name, see Dorothy Bentinck, Duchess of Portland.
Lady Dorothy Macmillan
GBE
Lady Macmillan waving to crowds in Accra
Spouse of the Prime Minister
of the United Kingdom
In office
10 January 1957  18 October 1963
Monarch Elizabeth II
Preceded by Clarissa Eden
Succeeded by Elizabeth Douglas-Home
Personal details
Born Dorothy Evelyn Cavendish
28 July 1900
Died 21 May 1966 (aged 65)
Spouse(s) Harold Macmillan
Children Maurice Macmillan
Lady Caroline Faber
Lady Catherine Amery
Sarah Macmillan
Parents Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire
Evelyn Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire

Lady Dorothy Evelyn Macmillan (née Cavendish) GBE (28 July 1900 – 21 May 1966) was a daughter of the 9th Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and the wife of the British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.

Family life

Born Dorothy Evelyn Cavendish, she spent her first eight years at Holker Hall, Lancashire, and Lismore Castle, Ireland.[1] She became known as Lady Dorothy from the age of eight, when her father succeeded to the dukedom, and the family moved into Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, and the other ducal estates.[2] She received lessons in French, German, riding and golf. From the age of sixteen she lived with the family at Rideau Hall, Ottawa, where her father served as Governor General of Canada.[3]

Marriage

In 1920 she married the publisher and Conservative politician Harold Macmillan, who had been on her father's staff in Canada. Their lavish wedding, on 21 April at St. Margaret's, Westminster, was attended by royalty, aristocracy and leading literary figures, and was hailed as the social event of the London season.[4]

Lady Dorothy was a dutiful political wife and the couple remained together (despite her long-lasting affair with the bisexual Conservative politician Robert Boothby) until her death from a heart attack at the Macmillan family estate at Birch Grove, East Sussex, in 1966. Her husband outlived her by 20 years.

She and Harold had four children:

Ancestry

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dorothy Macmillan.
  1. Charles Williams, Harold Macmillan (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2009), ISBN 978-0-297-85194-3, p. 53.
  2. Williams, Macmillan, pp. 53-54.
  3. Williams, Macmillan, p. 54
  4. Williams, Macmillan, p. 58
Honorary titles
Preceded by
Clarissa Eden
Spouse of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1957-1963
Succeeded by
Elizabeth Douglas-Home