Mia Kellmer Pringle was born in Vienna to Samuel Kellmer and Sophie Sobel. Her younger brother Chanan Kella was her only sibling. Samuel Kellmer was a successful timber wholesaler, and the family was comfortably-middle class. Their circumstances changed swiftly after the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938, and Pringle and her mother were forced to flee to London as refugees. This was a traumatic experience of poverty and displacement: Pringle was suddenly responsible for supporting herself and her mother. She made ends meet by working variously at Woolworths, in primary schools, and as a secretary, all while learning English.