Lady Sarah Spencer & The Honorable Neil McCorquodale

[Lady Jean]

G. Shakerly photo, Northampton Mercury. From L.Leete Hodge book, DIANA.



Mother and sister of the bride
G. Shakerly photo fromG. Honeycombe ROYAL WEDDING, 1981



Diana with Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, Earl Spencer and Raine Spencer.
photo: G. Shakerly, G.Honeycombe book ROYAL WEDDING, 1981


Diana at Althorp reception
photo: G.Shakerly, in Penny Junor book, DIANA, 1983

[princess olga]

thanks for the detective work! Especially Diana looks luminous in these pictures! No wonder Charles fell for her.

[Squidgy]

Lady Jean is posting pictures!!! Wonderful news! Thanks Lady Jean.:)

I love these pictures. She was so photogenic - even when she was an unknown 18 year old.

[Zonk]

The photos are great. Still trying to understand why Lady Sarah Armstrong Jones would be a bridesmaid but oh well. Diana looks great and so does her sister, Lady Sarah. Who knew she was such fox when she was younger!

[Squidgy]

Originally Posted by Lady Jean

Well there must have been some sour grapes about it (or something else)....why mention it to anyone, right? I'm sure the Earl contributed towards it, besides opening up his home for the reception!

Originally Posted by Pinkylou

i do believe that the earl did go through financial difficulties in the 1970s and 80s, i read that in many different books about Diana, at one point he had to sell many of the heirlooms in althorp which caused friction between raine and her stepchildren. i could understand why frances had to pay up due to the fact that she too is a heiress exempt from debts and financial burden and that she was also married to a rich man.
frances also contributed to diana's flat in london.

Thank you both for your thoughts on whether or not Frances solely paid for the wedding reception.

I don't know what to think. Frances was pretty bitter towards her ex-husband, so it could be that she made it seem like he made no financial contributions for the reception, when really he did.

But Pinkylou has a good point too. The Spencer's financial situation at that time was not the best. It appears that their wealth was mostly tied up in their properties & possessions.

Another thought. Maybe Frances was trying to make up for being a somewhat absent mother, by insisting on paying for the reception.

I guess we'll never know!

[kelly9480]

Diana's flat was allegedly paid for by a trust she inherited from her great-grandmother, Frances Work. I've never read anything about her mother contributing to the cost.

Althorp had been draining the family's finances for a long time, according to the current earl. Raine sold off valuable artworks to cover some expenses, but it still wasn't enough. Add in the agricultural depressions and it had to have been even more troubling.

[kelly9480]

A question. How is Neil an Honourable? His father wasn't a baron, viscount or earl.

[pinkylou]

thats what i read, remember that the flat was in london, so its a bit more expensive than elsewhere, maybe the money in the trust wasn't enough so frances contributed some to add up, but thats what i read in various diana books and it was mentioned in a documentary about diana's life. in response to kelly9480

[Lady Jean]

Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, bridesmaid.
photo: Press Association

This dress is white with red or pink flowers but in the photo with the Earl Spencer and Raine the clothes look different. Maybe she changed? Diana's outfit is the same except earlier she had a hat on.

[Squidgy]

I've never seen that picture of Lady Sarah before. Thank you! You have so many pictures from the wedding, I'm beginning to think that you attended it as a guest.

[Lady Jean]

Oh I wish I was a guest at just one of these royal events I think that is it for the photos for this wedding, though.

I haven't seen any pictures of Lady Jane Fellowes at the wedding. At the time she would have been pregnant...Laura Jane was born two months later.

[Scott]

Thank you very much for thes photos of the wedding Lady Jean.

Originally Posted by windsorbrides1

Honourable is a courtesy title given to non-peerage personages of importance - for example the Archbishop of Cantebury is known as "The Right Honourable" and Sarah Ferguson was called "The Honourable" when she became engaged to Andrew.

Are you positive about that?. I have never ever heard her referred to as "The Honourable"

Scott

[windsorbrides1]

Honourable is a courtesy title given to non-peerage personages of importance - for example the Archbishop of Cantebury is known as "The Right Honourable" and Sarah Ferguson was called "The Honourable" when she became engaged to Andrew.

[Elspeth]

Sarah Ferguson was Miss Sarah Ferguson before she married. Sarah Spencer was The Honourable Sarah Spencer while her father was Viscount Althorp and became Lady Sarah Spencer when her father inherited his earldom and then Lady Sarah McCorquodale when she married. Daughters of Dukes, Marquesses, and Earls are Lady xxxx; daughters of viscounts and barons are The Honourable xxx.

High Court judges are given the title The Honourable, as are certain other groups of people:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Honourable

Right Honourable is conferred on members of the Privy Council, which includes all members of the Cabinet, so all Cabinet ministers are referred to formally with The Right Honourable as a prefix before their names. As a member of the Privy Council, the Archbishop of Canterbury also is The Right Honourable. It's also a title given to barons, viscounts, and earls.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_Honourable

[Scott]

Thank you Elspeth for clearing up that point.:)

Scott

[HRHAmy]

:( I wish we had a better picture of the spencer tiara, it looks so lovely.

[Elspeth]

There's a picture of it here (on the left):

http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/221377-post17.html

[Lady Jean]

Photo: IPC Magazines, Ltd. "Royal Wedding: A Celebration for the Marriage of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer."

[HRHAmy]

Originally Posted by Elspeth

There's a picture of it here (on the left):

http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/221377-post17.html

Thanks Elspeth and Lady Jean but I was thinking more along the lines of a better picture of the tiara on Sarah, maybe a color photo (I'm not sure if there are any). Her red hair must be very beautiful with that tiara. I am a redhead myself so I have a soft spot for tiaras on red hair.