Celebrating Daphne du Maurier's Birthday – 13th May 2026
Daphne du Maurier walking across the land surrounding Kilmarth
On this day in 1907, Daphne du Maurier was born, so join us today as we celebrate the 119th anniversary of her birth.
A May birthday should mean a warm sunny day, here in the UK, and that is what we are hoping for on Daphne's birthday today. She loved walking and went out daily as part of her routes*.
If you are in the Fowey area, you might like to walk to some of the locations Daphne describes in her books. All of Daphne's Cornwall-based novels, except Jamaica Inn, are set in Fowey or Par and the areas around her homes of Menabilly and Kilmarth. Her descriptions of place are very identifiable, so you can easily find yourself walking in her footsteps.
If you live far away from Fowey, and we do know that lovers of Daphne's work can be found right across the world, can we suggest that you take one of her books from your bookshelves today and read a little of her work, maybe a short story, a passage from your favourite du Maurier novel, or some of her autobiography or memoir. Or, you could watch a film of one of Daphne's books.
There is an amazing selection of audio and video footage online. If you run a search, you will find audio recordings of Daphne's short stories, a Pathe News film of Daphne and her children at Menabilly from 1946, lots of YouTube pieces past and present, often created by du Maurier enthusiasts, and so much more.
If you click on the Videos and Films link here on our website: https://www.dumaurier.org/videosandfilms.php, you can watch the whole of the 1977 television interview Let's Pretend - The Make-Believe World of Daphne du Maurier, in which Daphne talks with Cliff Michelmore, from her home at Kilmarth, about her childhood, her marriage to Lieutenant General Sir Frederick "Boy" Browning, and the world of her writing. What a treat to see Daphne and to hear her talking on this special day.
Whatever you do today and wherever you are in the world, have a good day and remember Daphne du Maurier on her birthday.
*The du Maurier family had many code words, so that they could talk to each other without anyone outside the family knowing what they were really saying! Routes is du Maurier code for familiar routines or habits. You can find a list of these code-words in some of the biographies about Daphne du Maurier. Examples are in the glossary at the front of Daphne du Maurier: Letters From Menabilly – Portrait of a Friendship by Oriel Malet, first published in 1993, and in the glossary at the back of Manderley Forever: The Life of Daphne du Maurier by Tatiana de Rosnay, first published in English in 2017.
(c) Ann Willmore, 13th May 2026.