Unfortunately, the legendary Mitford wit does not turn well into the written word here.

ECONOMIST: English lives

Newcastle coroner David Mitford said Moat died as a result of a gunshot wound to the head.

BBC: 'I wish Raoul Moat was alive,' says victim's sister

Mitford told us that any sign of haste is non-U. Whenever possible, she said, she avoided airmail.

NEWYORKER: The English Wars

Fermor had been at the heart of many aristocratic circles, including those of the notorious Mitford sisters.

WSJ: At Home in the World

During the war, he and his wife Diana Mitford, were interned for being a threat to national security.

BBC: 31 July

On the mantelpiece stood a card with the telephone numbers of his closest friends, Artemis Cooper (whose biography of Fermor is being published this month) and Deborah Mitford, later the Duchess of Devonshire.

WSJ: At Home in the World