Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer and Family 1: Ending Aug. 2023

[iowabelle]

didn't the term "irreconcilable differences" come to be so that it could cover a multitude of issues without specifying?

I think you're right. IMO it seems better when your children eventually see these papers just to say "mommy and daddy couldn't get along" rather than "mental cruelty" or "infidelity." At least neither parent gets tarnished in the eyes of the children.

I just read Sarah Bradford and Tina Brown on Diana, and as far as I could tell the "mental cruelty" Frances was talking about was separation from her youngest children.

I wonder if the children would have turned out better had the Althorps worked out an amicable split and Frances been awarded primary care and custody of the children. Johnny Spencer doesn't seem to have coped very well when Charles and Diana needed him most (seemed like he dumped them on nannies and other servants, and then packed them off to boarding schools).

 

[Skydragon]

I think you're right. IMO it seems better when your children eventually see these papers just to say "mommy and daddy couldn't get along" rather than "mental cruelty" or "infidelity." At least neither parent gets tarnished in the eyes of the children.

Even if the divorce is because of irreconcilable differences, there is normally a note on the Nisi & Absolute detailing what the irreconcilable differences were and of course they are shown on the divorce papers.

There have been calls for a 'no fault' divorce to save time and mudslinging but nothing has happened so far. Interestingly, falling out of love is cited in 26% of cases, while nearly 16% of women cited abuse, men tend to cite lack of sex but the main cause remains infidelity at 30%. So here, at least the only way to stop young children finding out, if they didn't already know, is to lock the papers away.

I wonder if the children would have turned out better had the Althorps worked out an amicable split and Frances been awarded primary care and custody of the children. Johnny Spencer doesn't seem to have coped very well when Charles and Diana needed him most (seemed like he dumped them on nannies and other servants, and then packed them off to boarding schools).

It is always better for the children if the separation and divorce is handled 'nicely', with their mental welbeing kept in mind, sadly this rarely happens, with parents using the children to get at each other. I think Johnny saw the children as a weapon to use against Frances and as a result, he damaged them both.

 

[TheTruth]

I read in a Diana´s biography that her parents had so many children looking for the male heir. When they finally got one, the child died, and that happened before Diana and Charles were born. That experience is usually terrible for a marriage.

As it is for the children who are born after. I doubt Frances made a difference between Charles and Diana but in spite of what's been said on Johnnie's love for all his children, it wasn't the same affection for the male heir and for his daughters, especially Diana who came as "the child of replacement". She was certainly another "disappointment" because she was a girl and they had lost a boy. The feeling of being "inferior" to her brother who would carry on the name of the Spencers was probably damaging for her and for Charles who was conditioned to represent the Spencer family.

 

[Skydragon]

It was only last month that Princess Diana's brother Earl Spencer abruptly ended his affair with the glamorous American TV presenter who had taken the place of his second wife.

Fourth in line: Earl Spencer is spotted holidaying with ANOTHER pretty companion | Mail Online

 

[Zonk]

For lack of better words...he is a Hot Mess!

Can't feel bad for Colleen...as she know what she was working with.

 

[Duchess]

in time she'll see that he did her a VERY BIG favor. thank god she wasn't married to him.

 

[Zonk]

yes she will. but she left her job, her fiancee, family and friends moved across the Pond for what? Again...she knew what she was getting into?

I wonder what he is really looking for?

 

[Elspeth]

Conquests, apparently.

 

[ghost_night554]

I find that, as time goes by, more people are aware of how awful Earl Spencer's speech was at that funeral. At the time, it seemed like a grief-stricken brother fighting for his sister's legacy; but as time goes by, it sounds more and more like a bitter rant against the Windsors.

I dunno some of it sounded sincere , although he was a bit harsh at times. Although I don't approve of the Althrop museum I do think it's fascinating to have somewhere to go and see all her dresses, but then again I am a gril.

 

[iowabelle]

I thought the funeral speech was heroic but insensitive to his nephews. He sounded furious, not only at the press but at the Windsors ... and attacks on the Windsors could only have confused those poor sad boys. In the end those children could only grow up to be Windsors and closer to the Establishment and the "grey men." It was their destiny IMO.

And I felt let down by Earl Spencer. He didn't live up to the ideals he spouted that day, and he doesn't seem to have had much contact with her children after his death either.

I think this Spencer is all show and very little substance.

 

[Liz]

Can't feel bad for Colleen...as she know what she was working with.

Exactly. Any woman that gets involved with him has only herself to blame. Everyone knows his track record and how he treats women. So, really, I don't feel too badly for any of these women...except maybe his first wife. The rest had fair warning IMO.

 

[Skydragon]

And I felt let down by Earl Spencer. He didn't live up to the ideals he spouted that day, and he doesn't seem to have had much contact with her children after his death either.

I think this Spencer is all show and very little substance.

Or as I heard him described - All Mouth and No Trousers!

 

[ghost_night554]

I remember a few years ago he said he was mad that they forced the boys to walk behind Diana's coffin and that it wasn't actually protocol. I never imagined the boys spending too much time with him anyways but it did seem like the whole family is atleast on good terms judging by the memorial service last year.

 

[bbb]

Tragedy hits Earl Spencer's daughter Eliza as sweetheart dies

*quote from article
*Earl Spencer is expected to fly to South Africa to comfort his twin daughter Eliza as she mourns the loss of her boyfriend. Christopher Elliot. The 17-year-old died in a car accident in Cape Town, where Eliza, 16, lives with her mother Victoria"

such a tragic thing to happen to a young man and a horrible thing for a teenage girl to cope with, bless her heart and Mr. Elliot's family and friends.

 

[Odette]

I just read it on line. How sad!

 

[pinkie40]

I believe Earl Spencer's funeral oration to be one of the best speeches ever written and given. I don't agree with a few of the particulars included but it was well written and it summed up what a lot of folks were thinking at that moment of time.

The original on view in the exhibit is very telling in what he omitted.

Anyway, I have always thought, for decades, the British Aristocracy have a system that reeks. So much pressure on the heir and then relatively nothing for the other kids. When the current Duke of Devonshire came to town and gave a lecture, he pointedly dwelt on this old system of inheritance as he had recently inherited his title at an age when most of us plan to retire from work.

Interesting to see that the current girlfriend of Champagne Charlie is wealthy in a way the others weren't. He's smart now to go for big wealth...love is fickle (imo) but money fixes the plumbing of old houses!

My thoughts and prayers go out to Eliza.

 

[rominet09]

Terrible tragedy for Eliza.. I feel for her

 

[gretta]

WOW!!! I really feel sorry for the Earl's kids (especially Eliza). Their father keeps dumping his "wives" just as they are getting used to them which leaves them with a very unstable family life on their father's side. With all that happening, Eliza has to also deal with the greif of loosing her boyfriend =(

 

[Warren]

A news snippet on Earl Spencer's renovations to homes on the Althorp estate can be found at the last item of this Mail Online link.

 

[sirhon11234]

Among them is the Garden House, the property he refused to let his sister Diana have as a bolt-hole but instead offered to Patricia Guppy, whom he was accused of attempting to seduce while her fraudster husband Darius was in prison.

That man is unbelievable!

 

[Mermaid1962]

All he seems to have is money and good looks to recommend him. He must be quite a charmer.

That man is unbelievable!

 

[tan_berry]

I think he did well through Eton and Cambridge and has written at least two books on history.

 

[Mermaid1962]

Oh yes, he's very intelligent and capable--which makes his attitude toward women seem even worse.

I think he did well through Eton and Cambridge and has written at least two books on history.

 

[Russophile]

Oh yes, he's very intelligent and capable--which makes his attitude toward women seem even worse.

Would you say he's a snob, then? Picks the lovely, beautiful brides that haven't any sense so he could Lord over them?
(no pun intended--well, yeah, okay, pun intended! )

 

[Mermaid1962]

In other words, he likes "dumb blondes/redheads/brunettes". I don't know. Perhaps he thinks that he honestly loves these women but just isn't any good at relationships. He must be able to pour on the charm, because his romantic history is well-known and yet women STILL fall for him.

Would you say he's a snob, then? Picks the lovely, beautiful brides that haven't any sense so he could Lord over them?
(no pun intended--well, yeah, okay, pun intended! )

 

[Fie]

Among them is the Garden House, the property he refused to let his sister Diana have as a bolt-hole but instead offered to Patricia Guppy, whom he was accused of attempting to seduce while her fraudster husband Darius was in prison.

That man is unbelievable!

You may want to read the whole thread through. Someone mentions that things didn't quite go that way...

From what I understood of the whole story was that Charles didn't object to lending Diana that house, but the security staff objected because the house stood to near the wall that surrounds the whole estate. The security had to be there or at least be possible, as it would have been used by Diana (as the mother to the heir of the Brittish trone), Prince William and Prince Harry. The security guys suggested another house on the estate and it was offered to Diana who refused that option.

 

[ysbel]

It was only last month that Princess Diana's brother Earl Spencer abruptly ended his affair with the glamorous American TV presenter who had taken the place of his second wife.

Fourth in line: Earl Spencer is spotted holidaying with ANOTHER pretty companion | Mail Online

Commitment is not the Earl's strong point, apparently.

I just hope he doesn't follow the footsteps of his cousin the Duke of Marlborough who took 4 or 5 marriages to get it right and totally screwed up his kids in the process.

 

[sirhon11234]

In Sarah Bradford Diana it did state that it was suggested that she rent a farmhouse outside of Althorp.
As a person he is still unbelievable

 

[georgiea]

In Sarah Bradford Diana it did state that it was suggested that she rent a farmhouse outside of Althorp.

The Diana Chroncicles, on Page 361, states that the Earl offer her other houses on the estate, but Diana, Princess of Wales had her heart set on the Garden House in the park. In a letter her brother offered a farmhouse that was outside the park on the estate. The agrument got so bad between sister and brother that the Earl asked for the Spencer tiara back.

As a person he is still unbelievable

I think he is a mentally sick man in relationships. It comes from their parents divorcing with both of them very young and not able to hadle it.

 

[TheTruth]

He has exactly the same problem which Diana had : longterm relationships whether it's friendship or love don't seem to work. Just need to see how many lovers Diana had (even without including the alleged ones) and how many friends she dumped. It's clear it's the result of something that went wrong during their childhood. Probably the divorce since neither Sarah or Jane seem to have this relationship problem with others.