IN 1958, 17-YEAR-OLD ROSE DUGDALE was one of 1,400 young women who curtseyed before Queen Elizabeth II in the most prestigious event of the summer's debutante season. It was the last time that the well-bred daughters of the most aristocratic and affluent families in the country would be presented to the monarch in a ritual that dated back 200 years. Princess Margaret, with characteristic hauteur, would later say: "We had to put a stop to it. Every tart in London was getting in."
For the fiercely independent Dugdale, being presented to the queen was a means to an end. She had agreed on the condition her parents allowed her to attend the allwomen St Anne's College, Oxford, to study philosophy, politics and economics. Sixty years later she recalled the debutante season as "a horrible marriage market in which you were being sold as a commodity". By then, she had travelled a lunar distance from her elite upbringing in rural Devon and London, the extraordinary arc of her life perhaps most aptly condensed in her recent biography's title, Heiress, Rebel, Vigilante, Bomber.
Written by Irish author and journalist Sean O'Driscoll, the book details Dugdale's unlikely journey from reluctant debutante to dedicated IRA volunteer, whose reckless escapades and commitment to the cause of violent republicanism made headlines across the world.
In January 1974, she took part in the armed hijacking of a helicopter from which milk churns filled with explosives were dropped on an RUCbase in Northern Ireland. A few months later, she organised and led an audacious art heist in County Wicklow in which 19 artworks, including paintings by Rubens, Goya and Vermeer, were stolen and held for ransom against the release of IRA prisoners.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 15, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 15, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
'Grey Zone' How The IDF Views Some Journalists As Targets
Despite denials by Israel of deliberate targeting to silence critics, record number of media workers killedin Gaza
Airports Are Everywhere -But Where Are All The Passengers?
Last month, the governor of Zamfara, one of Nigeria's poorest states, held a ceremony to mark the start of construction on an international airport in the state capital Gusau.
Biden's Burden President Needs To Give Way To Someone Who Can Beat Trump
What was the worst moment? Perhaps when one especially rambling sentence of Joe Biden's ended in a mumbled, confused declaration that "We finally beat Medicare", as if he were the enemy of the very public service Democrats cherish and defend.
UN Aid Chief Departs With Warning Of 'Huge' Famine
Sudan is facing horror "beyond imagination", the outgoing UN aid chief has warned, with 750,000 people under imminent threat of famine and with conditions in danger of worsening even further.
LENDERS OF LAST RESORT
In 2024, Britain's libraries aren't just for books. They're support centres, homeless shelters and safety nets-filling huge gaps left by the state
New chapter What next for Julian Assange and WikiLeaks?
As Julian Assange enjoyed his first weekend of freedom in years, there appeared to be no question in the mind of his wife, Stella, about what the family's priorities were.
On the line The supreme court handed Trumpa partial win. Now what?
Ruling means the former president is now less likely to face trial in the subversion case before the election
"This makes us nervous' Balloon wars raise stakes in the DMZ
Just a stone's throw from North Korea, farmer Park Se-un tends to his crops under the watchful eye of the South Korean military.
"They won't silence us' Activist's vow after ambush and beating
Opposition is pinning its hopes on parliamentary elections in October, amid attacks on government critics
Before the Conservatives came to power in 2010, David Cameron set out his vision of a prosperous, secure country that would care for all. By every yardstick, his party has failed The long and wasted years of Tory Britain
There have been times in the past few weeks, watching Rishi Sunak, with his hands flailing for the steering wheel, when just for a second or two the ghosts of the Conservative party's last 14 years have seemed to play across his features, and we all have been forced to endure the unspooling catastrophe once again: the Truss budget and Partygate and proroguing parliament and Theresa May croaking her way to her P45 and No Deal is Better than a Bad Deal and Eat out to Help Out and, God help us, Get Brexit Done.
