McVeagh was born on 6 September 1926 in
Ipoh, Malaysia. Her father John McVeagh was managing a rubber plantation. Her mother Margaret was a singer who had studied with
Harry Plunket Greene at the
Royal College of Music. Returning to the UK at the age of five, McVeagh was educated at
Malvern College before studying at the Royal College of Music from 1944. While there she took lessons from
Frank Howes, then music critic at
The Times. McVeagh wrote a biography of
Gerald Finzi, and edited a volume of Finzi's letters. She also wrote several books on
Edward Elgar. Since 2013, the North American British Music Studies Association has awarded a biennial Diana McVeagh Prize for Best Book on British Music. McVeagh was married to the pathologist Bill Morley from 1950 until his death in 1994. McVeagh died on 2 July 2025, at the age of 98. ==Publications==