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Unity Mitford
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===Allegations of a faked shooting=== On 1 December 2002, following the release of declassified documents (including the diary of wartime MI5 officer Guy Liddell), investigative journalist [[Martin Bright]] published an article in ''[[The Observer]]'' saying that Home Secretary John Anderson had intervened to prevent Mitford being questioned on her return from Germany. He also said that the shooting, which "has become part of the Mitford myth", may have been invented to excuse this.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/dec/01/martinbright.theobserver|title=The truth about the Minister, Unity Mitford and the hole in her head|access-date=18 May 2008|last=Bright|first=Martin|newspaper=The Observer|location=London|date=30 November 2002}}</ref> Bright cites the statements of press photographers and others who witnessed Mitford's 3 January 1940 return to Britain that "there were no outward signs of her injury." Liddell had written on 2 January, "We had no evidence to support the press allegations that she was in a serious state of health, and it might well be that she was brought in on a stretcher in order to avoid publicity and unpleasantness to her family." Liddell had wanted her and her entourage, which according to Bright included known Nazi supporters, to be searched upon arrival, but the Home Secretary prevented this. On 8 January, Liddell notes receiving a report from the Security Control Officers who were responsible for meeting the arrivals that states "there were no signs of a bullet wound."<ref name=":0" /><ref Name="HBG"/> Mitford's cousin, [[Rupert Mitford, 6th Baron Redesdale]], replied to the accusations by saying, "I love [[conspiracy theories]] but it goes a little far to suggest Unity was faking it. But people did wonder how she was up on her feet so soon after shooting herself in the head." Unity's sister, [[Deborah Mitford|Deborah]], rebutted by stating that the entourage that returned with Unity consisted of herself and their mother and although she could not remember them being searched upon return, that Unity "could not walk, talked with difficulty and was a changed personality, like one who had had a stroke", and that she has detailed records from Professor Cairns, neurosurgeon at the Nuffield Hospital in Oxford, on her condition, including X-rays showing the bullet.<ref name="observer2"/> In a 2007 article for ''[[New Statesman]]'', Bright states, "In fact, Liddell was wrong about her injuries. She had indeed shot herself and later died of an infection caused by the bullet in the brain."<ref name="newStatesman">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/martin-bright/2007/12/unity-mitford-home-hitler-war|title=Unity Mitford and 'Hitler's baby'|access-date=5 February 2015|last=Bright|first=Martin|date=13 December 2007|magazine=The New Statesman}}</ref>
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