Lady Sarah Spencer & The Honorable Neil McCorquodale

[windsorbrides1]

Does anyone have pictures of this wedding?

[msleiman]

I would like to see some pictures also.

[princess olga]

And me! I've seen pictures of Jane, the other sister's wedding (Di was a frankly, pudgy-looking bridesmaid at that one), as well as pictures of Diana's brother's first wedding to Victoria. But never Sarah's. Wonder indeed whether anyone here has?

[Lady Jean]

In the "Diana as a Bridesmaid" thread, page 2, post 29 has a picture of Frances Shand Kydd, Diana, and Lady Fermoy at the wedding.

Pictures from this wedding are rare. Sarah wore a gown similar to Jane's : high neck, long sleeves , possibly out of embroidered English net. Her hair was down and she wore the Spencer tiara. I found the pic in L. Leete-Hodge's Country Life book about Diana. The formal portrait is in Gordon Honeycombe's "Royal Wedding" book, 1981. I will try to scan these and upload them

[prinses]

Picture from:
www.profimedia.cz



... a picture from this wedding.

[Zonk]

Thank you Prinses..I have never seen this photo before. Does anyone know who is the bridesmaid to the left of Neil?

[Lady Jean]

The bridesmaid is Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones.

[Scott]

Thank you Prinses for the photo. I have often wondered what Sarah looked like on her wedding day. Looking at this photo and comparing it to her sister Jane's wedding, it almost looks as though they wore the same wedding dress. I would find that very strange indeed coming from such a noble family.



Scott

[didem]

Have any Diana's photo for this wedding?

[Lady Jean]

Sarah's dress was extremely similar to Jane's. The major difference that I have seen is that Sarah's has a peplum / ruffle of lace at the waistband. The ruffle is not too puffy, it looks quite lovely.

[Scott]

Originally Posted by Lady Jean

Sarah's dress was extremely similar to Jane's. The major difference that I have seen is that Sarah's has a peplum / ruffle of lace at the waistband. The ruffle is not too puffy, it looks quite lovely.

Thank you for that info Lady Jean. You are lucky to have benn able to see other photos of Sarahs wedding. I like Sarah, she seems to be very down to earth. She is the one who has a son called George (I think) who is the "double" of his cousin Prince Harry.
I do hope you will be able to post the photos you mentioned. Thanks once again

Scott:)

[Lady Jean]

"Royal Wedding" book, Gordon Honeycombe:

"..Sarah, married Neil McCorquodale, a Lincolnshire landwoner and former Coldstream Guards officer, on 17 May 1980 at St. Mary's Church, Great Brington. It was the first wedding at Althorp since 1914, when Lady Delia married there. Lady Sarah wore a plain dress designed by Bill Pashley. It was embroidered with antique lace and georgette in the style of a riding-habit. Her veil, also trimmed with lace, was held in place by the Spencer tiara."

Lady Jane's wedding gown was also designed by B. Pashley

[Lady Jean]

"Frances" by Max Riddington, about Frances Shand-Kydd:

"Sarah..had a new love herself, Neil McCorquodale, a distant cousin of the much-hated Raine. Theirs was a quick courtship: 'I am a whirlwind kind of lady,' Sarah admitted, although she had in fact known the twenty-eight year old former Guards officer for two years. After only five weeks of going out together, however, they decided to marry without delay. The engagement was announced in August [1979], when Sarah was twenty-four. She told her father while he was distracted during a game of cricket at Althrop, and he absentmindedly gave his blessing."
"Then, almost immediately, in a characteristic show of Spencer impetuosity, the couple split up and Neil flew off to Australia to think things over. Upon his return they came together again, agreeing to change the venue for their wedding from London to a smaller country church, and set a date for the following 17 May at St. Mary's, Great Brington, hard by the gates of Althorp.Frances was quoted as saying, ' I am very very happy for them. There were very worried and uncertain. They seemed to have got landed with a big London wedding and I think they both felt they wanted more time to think and were a bit nervous about the whole thing.' "
"Frances once again paid for the reception, this time at Althorp, during which she spent much of her time avoiding Raine and her mother B. Cartland. "

[CasiraghiTrio]

Originally Posted by Lady Jean

The bridesmaid is Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones.

I thought so! Lady Sarah A-J was also one of Diana's bridesmaids, right? Was she in Lady Jane's wedding party too?

I assume that in this pic: http://img106.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp...ah_spencer.jpg the man seated beside Frances is Peter Shand Kydd? I have never seen a pic of Peter Shand Kydd before, so this is fascinating.

Originally Posted by CasiraghiTrio

I thought so! Lady Sarah A-J was also one of Diana's bridesmaids, right? Was she in Lady Jane's wedding party too?

I assume that in this pic: http://img106.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp...ah_spencer.jpg the man seated beside Frances is Peter Shand Kydd? I have never seen a pic of Peter Shand Kydd before, so this is fascinating.

Oh no, I just realized that man cannot be Peter. He must be Neil's father. It seems the groom's mother is next to Lord Spencer, so it must follow that Neil's daddy is the gentleman beside Frances. This makes the most sense. Who is the gentleman standing beside Sarah? Maybe the 5th Lord Fermoy, or had he already committed suicide by then? I don't remember. Maybe Neil's brother?

[Lady Jean]

Yes, the man next to Frances is Mr.Alistair McCorquodale, the groom's father. Don't know who the other man is (and Lord Fermoy died in 1984) . I dont' think Sarah Armstrong-Jones was in Jane's wedding (one of the few she missed!)- the formal photo shows Diana as a bridesmaid with a few much younger kids in wedding party gear. And Peter Shand Kydd is indeed elusive!

[CasiraghiTrio]

Originally Posted by Lady Jean

Yes, the man next to Frances is Mr.Alistair McCorquodale, the groom's father. Don't know who the other man is (and Lord Fermoy died in 1984) . Peter Shand Kydd is elusive!

ooh I just love the name Alistair but the "Alastair" spelling is my favorite. "Alistair" seems more common, though.
As for Peter, after my original post expressing a thought that was the man beside Frances might be him, it occurred to me how unlikely it is that Earl Spencer and Peter were ever in the same presense, at least this long after the divorce in the 60s. So much bad blood there, very sad.

[Scott]

Originally Posted by Lady Jean

"Royal Wedding" book, Gordon Honeycombe:

"..Sarah, married Neil McCorquodale, a Lincolnshire landwoner and former Coldstream Guards officer, on 17 May 1980 at St. Mary's Church, Great Brington. It was the first wedding at Althorp since 1914, when Lady Delia married there. Lady Sarah wore a plain dress designed by Bill Pashley. It was embroidered with antique lace and georgette in the style of a riding-habit. Her veil, also trimmed with lace, was held in place by the Spencer tiara."

Lady Jane's wedding gown was also designed by B. Pashley

Thank you Lady Jean for this info and also for the details regarding the courtship. I think B Pashley must have run out of ideas to make the two dresses so similar in style :) Out of curiosity, does anyone know who actually married first - Jane or Sarah?

Scott

[Squidgy]

Lady Jane married Robert Fellowes on April 20th 1978, over 2 years before Lady Sarah wed.

Prinses, thanks so much for the colour picture of the wedding. I've only seen b&w pictures up until now.

And Lady Jean, once again, thanks for all of the details regarding the wedding. I have never been able to find out much about it.

I find it curious that Frances paid for the reception. I would have though that she & the Earl would have shared costs.

[Lady Jean]

Originally Posted by Squidgy

I find it curious that Frances paid for the reception. I would have though that she & the Earl would have shared costs.

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!

[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.