1973 #2 *Meet the Hon. Desmond Guinness & His Mother Diana Mitford, her husband Oswald Mosley. “Princess” Mariga. Irish Georgian Society. 1969 Flashback. Suzy. Jody Jacobs and Beverley Jackson. Santa Barbara. LONG. 10/6/25* Update

LAT = Los Angeles Times

Two years into my research I subscribed to newspapers.com and searched for Paige Young; instantly this article came up.

The article was written by society columnist Jody Jacobs and published in the Los Angeles Times, Oct. 10, 1973.

^^^^Jody Jacobs was the society editor for the LAT from 1971-1985.^^^^

I felt a chill when I realized that Paige Young had only 6 months left to live when this article was published.

What you see above, is Jody Jacobs only mention of Paige Young in the article besides her photo by photographer Kathleen Ballard.

The rest of the article discusses the many Santa Barbara society VIPs who attended the party for Desmond Guinness.

This story involves another newspaper society columnist named Beverley Jackson of the Santa Barbara News-Press.

Jackson attended the party and then wrote about it for the Santa Barbara News-Press in her regular “society” column. (Included in update at the end of the chapter.)

Beverley Jackson mention beginning lower left column.

I was fortunate to exchange a few emails with Beverley Jackson about 2 years before she died at age 91 in 2020.

She wrote to me that she remembered Desmond, but not Paige.

And without my prompting, “Desmond was always very discreet in these matters.”

But no memory of Paige.

It turns out Beverley did meet Paige in 1974, less than 2 weeks before Paige ended her life. Please see update at the end of this chapter.

Beverley Jackson lived a very full life from what I have read online.

She wrote a society column for the Santa Barbara News-Press from 1968-1992.

This job allowed her to travel and often stay with 100s of wealthy people from around the world.

This includes Leixlip Castle in Ireland visiting Desmond Guinness, at his home base. (Desmond is English.)

All the while having her home and work in beautiful Santa Barbara County.

Beverley traveled widely in China inspiring her to become a historian and author on Chinese culture, costume and fashion.

On top of that, Jackson had yet another career as a curator for the Santa Barbara Art Museum.

After reading the Jacobs (and later Jackson) article

I thought, who is this Desmond Guinness

attending several events arranged in his honor by a Who’s Who of Santa Barbara society?

“the Hon. Desmond Guinness.”

as it is often written.

 

Let’s start with his family of origin.

Hon. Desmond Guinness, as his last name indicates, is an heir to the famous Guinness brewery, banking and finance family fortune.

*Please note: What I have written below is meant to serve only as a general overview. 

The story of his mother and father’s lineage is written in history books.

Desmond’s mother was a controversial woman named Diana Mitford.

She came from an equally controversial English society family of 6 eccentric, beautiful, headstrong, individualistic and scandal-prone sisters.

2 of whom, Diana and Unity, were followers of Adolph Hitler and adopted fascist philosophy.

Diana Mitford certainly lived by her own set of rules with disastrous results. The same can be said of Unity.

The major source for my information is the book Diana Mosley: Mitford Beauty, British Fascist, Hitler’s Angel by Anne De Courcy.

The Mitford family was wealthy but they were kept on a “financial short leash,” according to Jessica Mitford.

Desmond and his brother didn’t grow up consistently with their mother.

She divorced their father when the boys were toddlers because she had fallen in love with Sir Oswald Mosley.

Mosley was an aristocrat and politician who served in the British House of Commons from 1918-1931. .

Sir Oswald Mosley founded the British Union of Fascists (BUF) in 1932 after visiting with Mussolini. His followers adopted a black-shirt and pants uniform, inspired by what Mosely had observed in Italy.

The para-military wing of BUF became known as the “Blackshirts.”

FROM AI:

Conservative Party: Mosely was first elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Harrow under the Conservative Party in 1918.

Independent: He became disillusioned with the Conservatives, particularly their policy on Ireland, and crossed the floor to sit as an Independent MP in late 1920. He was re-elected as an Independent in the 1922 and 1923 general elections. END

Mosley ran and won with the Labour Party 1924-1931.

and was finally defeated when he ran with his “New Party.“

The BUF was banned by the British Government in 1940.

Diana Mitford Guinness and Oswald Mosley met through mutual social circles in 1932.

Oswald was married in 1920 to a wealthy society woman: Lady Cynthia Curzon known as “Cimmie.“

“Tom” Mosley and Cimmie had 3 children, the youngest born in 1932.

Mosley was a ambitious philanderer; he had affairs with both Cimmie’s sister and their stepmother.

The answer is yes according to historians.

Apparently he was irresistible to women?

Mosley told Diana that he would not divorce his wife.

Diana went ahead and filed for divorce from her husband Bryan, Lord Moyne, who absolutely adored her.

And Cimmie adored her husband, Oswald, nicknamed “Tom.”

Diana asked Bryan for only enough money to live on.

She returned the Guinness family jewels and kept only the jewels Bryan had gifted her during their marriage.

And just like that Diana became Mosley’s mistress.

Cimmie was increasingly stressed and threatened by Diana’s divorced, unattached status and by all the time Diana was spending with her husband.

Apparently Diana and Mosley were pretty brazen about appearing in public together.

“From Diana’s point of view, Mosley had been unfaithful from the start of his marriage and even if she gave him up would continue to have liaisons with other women. If Cimmie had come to terms with all the affairs, she reasoned, why should she not do so with Diana?

What Diana did not understand was that Cimmie had realized that her husband’s feelings for Diana were more profound than any other liaison…and that Cimmie would be sharing him on the deeper level which she had assured her was hers alone. ” From Hitler’s Angel, De Courcy

This affair was gossiped about amongst the Society circles. Diana’s parents were furious and banned her from visiting. For a while anyway.

Many of Diana’s old friends, family members, and acquaintances shunned her, yet she maintained a group of loyal supporters. This group included several male admirers like Brideshead Revisited author Evelyn Waugh, also a member of the Bright Young Things.

Conveniently for Diana and Oswald, Cimmie died in 1934 after a bout of peritonitis.

There was gossip that the stress Cimmie experienced over her husband’s affair with Diana, was responsible for her death.

Mosley decided to wait 2 years after his wife’s death before making it legal with Diana in 1936. He wanted to wait a “respectful” amount of time.

Diana had gone along willingly with the delay, if not happily.

Hitler attended the secret wedding of Mitford and Mosley and the reception took place at the home of Joseph Goebbels.

Diana became Lady Mosley.

Within the Hitler circle, Diana hit it off in particular with Magda Goebbels, wife of Joseph.

Another of the Mitford Sisters was Unity.

Unity shot herself in the head when Britain declared war on Germany. She was distraught over the conflict between her “two beloved countries.”

Unity survived but had limited mental capacity until meningitis killed her in 1948. 

There is a recently published biography of Unity by Lauren Young: Hitler’s Girl: The British Aristocracy and the Third Reich on the Eve of WW2.

During WW 2

Mitford and Mosley were considered a threat and were placed under British house arrest. They spent 3 years in Holloway Prison, followed by house arrest until 1949.

Diana Mitford Guinness Mosley gave birth to 2 sons with Oswald, Max and Alexander.

Desmond and Jonathan Guinness did visit their mother in prison, and apparently got along fine with their stepfather.

(This is a point I intend to do further research on)

 Max and Alexander Mosley had financial struggles that the Guinness sons Jonathan and Desmond, simply did not.

Mosley was tight-fisted with money when it came to his sons with Diana.

Diana didn’t have much money independently of her husband. She did have some steady income from Guinness and shared it with her Mosely sons.

The couple lived out their years in France and Ireland after the war as they were highly disliked in England.

I have no idea why a dramatic series or feature film about the Mitford family has not yet been produced.

Their story lines contain elements of high melodrama resembling a Greek tragedy: Birth, death, war, marriage, adultery, jealousy, divorce, family ties and feuds, innocent children, fascism, wealth, poverty, money, politics, titles, eccentric British personalities.

*UPDATE There is a new series, Outrageous, about the Mitford Girls to be shown on Britbox 2025.* The trailer includes Diana and Unity deciding to go to Germany to “learn German.”

The BBC series Peaky Blinders features Oswald Mosley and Diana Mitford in a storyline.

See interview with “Lady Mosley” on Thames TV youtube channel, recorded in the 1970s.

Diana Mitford Mosley is still outraged that the British Government imprisoned her and “Kit” during WW2. And is still defending Nazi ideology and white supremacy in her sophisticated and charming way.

Diana lived a long 93 years and died in 2003, in Paris.

END

1954: Desmond Guinness grows up and gets

educated at Eton, Gordonstoun in Scotland. And then studied French and Italian at Christ Church, Oxford.

In 1956 Guinness and beautiful Hermione Maria-Gabrielle Von Urach and Desmond marry.

The bride had German royalty and titles on her father’s side. Her English mother was institutionalized when “Gabrielle” was only 6 years old. Her father had to work away from his daughter as he had no money.

The little girl was brought up by her godmother Hermione Ramsden in Surrey and Norway with 17 different governesses.

At age 18, Gabrielle became known as “Mariga.“

This beautiful young couple shared a love of architecture, history and had no need to work for a living.

Married at Christ Church Cathedral Oxford England>>>>

 

Desmond and Mariga purchased the decaying Leixlip castle of Ireland, restored it and made it their primary residence.

Mariga and Desmond were known for giving fabulous high society parties in Leixlip Castle.

From DiscoverIreland:

Leixlip village was established by the Vikings and Adam de Hereford, a follower of Strongbow, built the castle. It is located in County Kildare and has an interesting history.

The plasterwork in the Library dates from the mid 18th Century. The carpet is French Savonnerie. A treat in the Drawing Room is the large 18th century Dolls House that originally came from Newbridge House and drawings of the six Mitford sisters by William Acton

Features of Leixlip Castle include, The Front Hall, which boasts a 17th century Brussels tapestry depicting Theodotus offering the head of Pompey to Caesar. The Dining Room is furnished with Chippendale Chairs and Bavarian tapestries.

Together the couple founded the Irish Georgian Society (IGS) in 1957/58. It was and is, dedicated to the preservation of Irish Georgian castles and Irish castles in general.

The couple produced two beautiful children named Marina and Patrick. They are shown in a famous photo taken by society photographer Slim Aarons.

Mariga and Desmond were able to restore several more historic castles and published books on the topic.

I found in my research that Desmond toured the US extensively to fundraise for the IGS from about the mid–1960s through the 1980s. I read dozens of articles about his visits in the newspaper archives. Mariga toured with Desmond in the US at least one time that I’ve seen.

Desmond was warmly welcomed at numerous US high society and historical society gatherings. He presented lectures and slideshows to promote Irish architecture, history, and design, fundraise for IGS and sell his books.

His visits were covered by local newspaper society columnists. They would write about the society folks’ attendance at either a lecture, party, luncheon, cocktail party, or dinner. Sometimes a combination of events; all in honor of the Hon. Desmond Guinness.

I’m including a only a few of many newspaper examples from 1969.

I picked 1969

out of the many years Desmond travelled the US because it’s the same year Paige Young was touring the US and Canada for Playboy promotion.

Desmond visited towns one may not have expected him to: Des Moines, Shreveport, and the Corning Glass Center in Ithaca, New York.

Meet

“Suzy”

aka Suzy Knickerbocker, was a syndicated society columnist for over 50 years and worked for many different newspapers.

The following article from 1969 informs the reader about her interesting career climb.

Suzy like to write about European society types, with or without titles. Royals and would-be Royals.

Suzy K. wrote adoringly about Desmond (mainly) and Mariga several times.

Desmond Guinness had a busy schedule of travel for IGS educating and fundraising, for decades.

Return to 1973 Santa Barbara

Desmond had already been the house guest of Douglas A. Campbell in Los Angeles for 2 weeks when:

Paige appeared as the date of Desmond Guinness at a series of high society parties over a weekend in Santa Barbara.

It was described by LAT society writer Jody Jacobs as a season of grey skies and rainy weather.

This Suzy syndicated column below, appeared just 2 days later on October 12.

The timing is intriguing to say the least. Desmond is seen out with a date, Paige Young. His divorce is announced in these Suzy articles only two days later.

.

October 12, 1973

1973 before the separation:

Sept. 1973

Desmond’s blue eye always got a lot of attention.

In the lower 2nd column, writer describes Marina’s lovely velvet and brocade dress.

( This is the dress she is wearing in the LAT photos with Beverly Hills designers and art patrons Beegle and Tony Duquette.)

Raleigh News and Observer March 29, 1974.

This article is unusual because it brings up the uncomfortable subject of Desmond’s mother Diana Mitford and step-father Oswald Mosley.

Notice the comment and story about Stanley Kubrick!

Was Desmond feeling unencumbered that evening in Santa Barbara, knowing his pending divorce would soon be publicly outed?

Desmond was in LA at this time too so he would have been cross country traveling often.

Desmond is back in Los Angeles, this time with his daughter Marina. This visit coincides with the time Paige Young was contemplating suicide.

It is interesting that Desmond visited Los Angeles twice, 6 months apart.

The following article by Suzy, was published 10 days before Paige’s suicide. Desmond in bold. He was back in Los Angeles.

According to Paige’s neighbor Melanie, Paige was afraid of a sex tape/film being seen by certain people or a certain person, and that “Cici Huston’s brother,” was a phrase Paige threw around a lot in connection to the tape. (David Shane?) He had possession of the tape and would not hand it over to her.

I have to wonder if at least one person in Paige’s mind was Desmond Guinness (and his crowd?)

Desmond and his phone number to Leixlip Castle and his brother Jonathan Guinness, were listed in Paige’s phonebook found at the time of her suicide.

This indicates she saw Desmond outside of the their dates in Santa Barbara. Now I know she did. Paige was present at another party for Desmond in late March of 1974. Literally less than two weeks away from her suicide.

The Santa Barbara News-Press recently became available on newspapers.com.

Beverly Jackson was a society columnist for the New-Press at this time. Here is her article about the party at the Santa Barbara Biltmore for Desmond and Paige was his date.

Part 2 of Article.

…..Reynolds who has just completed a fine portrait of..>>>>>>>

As we have already seen through Suzy and Jody Jacobs articles, Desmond was back in Los Angeles in late March of 1974. He was again was making social rounds to promote the the IGS.

This time giving a lecture on the topic at the Leo S. Bing Theater located on the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Campus. (The Bing Theater was recently demolished.)

And again he stayed with Douglas A. Campbell, who again hosted at least one party for Desmond at his beautiful mansion in Holmby Hills.

The Hon. Desmond Guinness,

The most important part of the article is at the tail end.

We see that Paige was at the dinner party for Desmond held at Douglas A. Campbell’s home. And not just any table either. Paige was sitting with Jackson and Marina Guinness, daughter of Desmond.

So they met. As Dad’s new friend in LA?

The date of the party is not given, but if this was published on Thurs. March 28, 1974 and the Bing Theater lecture was Monday March 25.

This dinner would have been within 2 weeks of Paige’s suicide.

Was Paige afraid that any of the people at this gathering, would learn about the sex tape in which she appeared??