Violet Georgina Milner, Viscountess Milner (née Maxse; 1 February 1872 – 10 October 1958) was an English socialite of the Victorian and Edwardian eras and, later, editor of the political monthly National Review. Her father was close friends with Georges Clemenceau, she married the son of Prime Minister Salisbury, Lord Edward Cecil, and upon his death, Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner. Life Violet was the youngest of four children born to Admiral Frederick Maxse and Cecilia Steel. Her siblings were Gen. Sir Ivor Maxse (1862–1958), a British Army officer of the First World War; Leopold Maxse (1864–1932), editor of the National Review, and Olive Hermione Maxse (1867–1955), a model for Edward Burne-Jones. Admiral Maxse delivered despatches during the Crimean War, and he was one of only two outspoken supporters of the French position regarding Alsace-Lorraine after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. This drew the attention of Georges Clemenceau, and the two became friends. As a teenager, Violet lived two years in Paris, studying music and art, often attending opera and theater shows with Clemenceau. One of the highlights of 1897 for Violet was Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Celebration, on June 22, when she joined the Cecil family on a stand at Whitehall to watch the parade. With the breakdown of peace negotiations in South Africa between English and Dutch settlers, leading the Boer War in 1899, the British increased their military presence there by dispatching 2,000 soldiers. Among them was Major Edward Cecil and his wife. Arriving in Cape Town on 26 July, Lady Edward wrote often to her cousin, future Prime Minister Arthur Balfour, in support of England and the policies of its High Commissioner for South Africa, Sir Alfred Milner. With the Cecils and Milner residing at Government House, the three were good friends and lived under the same roof until 14 August, when the Cecils were ordered to move north. When Major Cecil became trapped in the Siege of Mafeking (from 13 October 1899 to 17 May 1900), Violet stayed at Groote Schuur, the estate of mining magnate and politician Cecil Rhodes. She wrote of her experiences during this time in her autobiography, "My Picture Gallery", published in 1951. She exchanged letters with Alfred, and alongside Violet Markham and Edith Lyttelton she established the Victoria League in 1901 to promote Milner's imperial vision of the British Empire. She met up with Lord Milner again at a Christmas