Aitken was born on 9 July 1908 in
Halifax, Nova Scotia to
Max Aitken, the owner of the
Daily Express, and Gladys Henderson Drury. Her maternal grandfather was
Major-General Charles William Drury
CBE, who was a cousin of Admiral Sir
Charles Carter Drury. The Drury family descended from Colonel Charles Drury of Ireland, who immigrated to
Saint John, New Brunswick in 1805. She was also descended from the Hazen family of
Massachusetts. Aitken's brother, Wing Commander
Sir Max Aitken, 2nd Baronet, was a fighter pilot with
No. 601 Squadron RAF during
World War II. In 1910 the family moved from Canada to the United Kingdom, and her father bought
Cherkley Court, a mansion in
Surrey. She grew up with her family entertaining
Sir Winston Churchill,
Rudyard Kipling, and
David Lloyd George at their home. In July 1916, Aitken's father was created a
baronet by
George V. On 23 January 1917 her father was elevated to the
peerage as
1st Baron Beaverbrook, at which time she was entitled to use the style
The Honourable, as the daughter of a
baron. After her mother died, her father married
Marcia Anastasia Christoforides, the widow of his friend
Sir James Dunn. == Marriages ==