The Spencer Family, Ancestry and Althorp 1: Ending Aug. 2023


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Ah, good point Osipi, thanks.

At the time of her death she was la Comtesse de Chambrun, divorced or not I suppose.

Mermaid1962 I agree with you!
 
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Do you believe that Prince William and Prince Henry will attend their grandmother's funeral?
 
Well, Raine was not their grandmother at all..she was the step-mother of their late mother. When their maternal grandmother Frances Shand-Kydd died both William and Harry did attend her funeral rites in Scotland.

I would be surprised if they attended Raine's funeral but who knows? At the very least they will probably send flowers or a note or something I suppose.
 
I'm in agreement with Moonmaiden that I don't think either William or Harry will attend the funeral services for Raine.

I would be surprised if either of them actually have many memories of her. I do think they will acknowledge her death by flowers or condolences as Raine was part of their extended family in their childhood but as services are held for those that will miss her and mourn her, I don't think Will and Harry would fit in that category.
 
One reason why she wouldn't be buried at Althorp is because of a remarriage, she was no longer Countess Spencer. She was also divorced from her third husband at the time of death.

Perhaps there is a family plot somewhere where she'll be buried along with her parents and relatives? I really don't know.

She wouldn't be the first or likely hundredth person who remarried as a widow and was buried with the first husband, or in her case second. She is johns widow and spent many years with him. Just because she remarried as a widow doesn't take away the tears they spent. But if there is still bad blood with Charles, I could see him refusing.

Not sure if her dads family has a plot. But her mother was buried on her estate, so perhaps Raine will be buried there. But she wasn't close to her mom at all.

Hopefully she made her wishes known to her children. I would hope if she wanted to be duty John Charles would be a big enough man to honor that but who knows.
 
Isn't Johnny Spencer buried in the Spencer vault at a church near the estate but not on the estate? Maybe Raine could do something similar to Princess Margaret did (cremation and bury the ashes with her parents) with the late Earl.


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It is interesting that her son, the current Earl of Dartmouth announced Raine's death and referred to her as "Raine, Countess Spencer..."
 
May she rest in peace. Condolences to her family and friends.

It is interesting that her son, the current Earl of Dartmouth announced Raine's death and referred to her as "Raine, Countess Spencer..."

I recall she reverted to using the "Countess Spencer" style/title after divorcing her 3rd husband so her son simply used the title she preferred.

Would her correct style/title be Raine, Comtesse de Chambrun?
 
All in all, I think that as Raine's children are the ones that are being the spokespeople in announcing her death and perhaps the ones closest to Raine in her last years, they will decide on the internment.

Many people do plan ahead for this kind of thing. When my dad passed away, my mother had the headstone made up with both of their names on it and both were cremated. My mother could have remarried but yet stipulated where she was to be buried.

Wherever Raine is buried, my wish is that she forever rests in peace and those that remember her with fond memories.
 
He apparently neither defended his new wife nor attempted to rein in his children.

I suppose we have no real evidence as to what happened in that family home following the marriage of Johnny and Raine.

As to "reigning in" his children, they were no longer that so not going to happen.

What we do have are photographs of Diana and Raine in pleasant enough looking conversation mode, which would suggest whatever went before was by then water under the bridge.
 
Were her own children already adult when she married Earl Spencer?
 
I am impressed by the activities of the late Raine.

1954 - 1958 Lady Gerald Legge served as Councillor in the Westminster City Council for St George’s Ward in Knightsbridge.

1958 - 1965 Viscountess Lewisham, later Countess of Dartmouth served as Councillor in the London County Council for – suitably enough – West Lewisham.

1966 Lady Dartmouth unsuccesfully tried to become the Conservative candidate for the Richmond constituency in the House of Commons.

1967 - 1973 Lady Dartmouth served as Councillor in the Greater London Council for the borough of Richmond-upon-Thames.

1967 - 1973 Lady Dartmouth served as Chair of the Historic Buildings Board of the Greater London Council.

1971 - 1993 Lady Dartmouth was an active member of the English Tourist Board

1971 - 1972 Lady Dartmouth served as Chair of the Covent Garden Development Committee of the Greater London Council.

1972 Lady Dartmouth served as Chair of the government working party on the Human Habitat, set up in connection with the United Nations Conference on the Environment in Stockholm in June 1972.

1972 - 1975 Lady Dartmouth served as Chair of the UK Executive preparing for European Architectural Year 1975. In this capacity Lady Dartmouth appointed the Earl Spencer as Chairman of the Youth Panel for European Architectural Year.

1976 Lady Dartmouth divorced the Earl of Dartmouth.

1976 Raine, Countess of Dartmouth married the Earl Spencer.

1976 Lady Spencer became chatelaine of Althorp House.

1980 - 1982 Lady Spencer served as a member of the Board of the Victoria & Albert Museum.

1992 The Earl Spencer passed away.

1992 The Dowager Countess Spencer ended to be chatelaine of Althorp House.

1993 The Dowager Countess Spencer married the French Comte Jean-François Pineton de Chambrun.

1994 Comtesse Jean-François Pineton de Chambrun became chatelaine of Château de Garibondy at the French Rivièra.

1996 Madame de Chambrun divorced the Comte Jean-François Pineton de Chambrun.

1996 Raine, Countess Spencer ended to be the chatelaine of Château de Garibondy.

After this -for an unknown period- Raine, Countess Spencer became a member of the board of directors of Harrod's.
 
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Was Comte Jean-François Pineton de Chambrun ever married before he married Countess Spencer?
 
He was married once before to Jonalee Douglas and they had one daughter Ariane.
 
Raine Spencer must have had a huge "carnet d'adresse" , important for Harrods.
 
I would wager too that Raine was involved with Harrod's before the Al Fayed brothers became involved with it in 1984 and they buying it outright in 1985. ;)
 
Were her own children already adult when she married Earl Spencer?

Two were. There is an age gap between the two eldest and two youngest. William was 27 and Rupert 23. Charlotte was only 13 and Henry was only 8.
 
I wonder if Raine's third husband has now become the Marquis de Chambrun?

His father Pierre Pineton de Chambrun, Marquis de Chambrun died in 1954.

In 1954 his eldest son Charles Pineton de Chambrun (and brother of Jean-Francois) became the new Marquis de Chambrun.

In 2010 the Marquis died. He had one son but he already died before him in 1996. No issue, I believe.

So, since 2010 Jean-Francois is now the head of the dynasty Pineton de Chambrun and is the current Marquis de Chambrun? When Raine had not divorced, she would have been the Marquise de Chambrun...
 
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Raine, Countess Spencer, certainly had a full life. May she rest in peace.:flowers:
 
Raine Spencer, the stepmother of the late Princess Diana, was laid to rest in a quiet funeral on November 3, PEOPLE has confirmed.

Countess Spencer, who died last month following a short illness, was buried at a cemetery just outside London on, a spokesman for her son, Earl of Dartmouth, tells PEOPLE.

It was in keeping with her stated wishes to be buried there. The simple ceremony was attended by her immediate family. She was survived by four children and nine grandchildren. No members of the Spencer family attended the ceremony.
Read more: Princess Diana's Stepmother Raine Spencer Private Funeral
 
Well done on the PoW.:)

And shame on Earl Spencer for apparently not bothering at all.:sad:
 
Earl Spencer had explained two times that it was a dream which made him bury his sister on that small island on two occasions. One is in his book, "The Spencers: A Personal History of an English Family", Sep 2000. The other is in a 2012 TV interview.

"I had a dream during the week between Diana's death and her funeral to bury her on the island here. And I asked my family and they all agreed that this was the right place for her to be. And then as you see, it is a very very beautiful place and it is private. And I can protect her." -- Charles Spencer's interview with China Central Television (CCTV1), July 31st, 2012.

But the bury place caused some controversy in 1998. It was revealed by a long time house keeper, the island was used to bury family's dog. Not pet dogs, but hunting dogs.

Princess Diana is buried on land used for years as a pet cemetery and known to the staff at her childhood home as "Dog Island," a former housekeeper for her family said in an article published on Monday. The leafy Oval Island at Althorp, the Spencer family's rural estate, was used as a place to bury hunting dogs that belonged to Diana's grandfather Jack, Maudie Pendrey told The Mirror tabloid.

"I cannot believe Earl Spencer could be so heartless as to bury his sister in a dog burial ground," she told The Mirror. "It is a desecration." Pendrey worked for the Spencer family into which Diana was born for more than 22 years, the newspaper said. She told the paper she had seen some of the dogs' gravestones on the island, but that the stones were removed to make room for Diana's memorial. "I saw them. There were five dogs' gravestones with their names on them. They were about 2-1/2 feet high ... I understood there were other dogs buried there as well but without headstones."

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ex-housekeeper-says-diana-buried-in-dog-cemetery.aspx?pageID=438&n=ex-housekeeper-says-diana-buried-in-dog-cemetery-1998-07-07
 
Diana's Byzantine Ancestry & Others

I have Iain Moncreiffe's book (Royal Highness: Ancestry of the Royal Child) about the ancestry of the Spencer's and the Windsors.
Does anyone have a copy of the book like I do?
And can anyone verify the truthful royal ancestry from the royals to Diana? i.e. Can anyone here verify how true the lines of descent are?

Also, on Wikipedia, it says "if this is true" under a line of descent "proposed" by Iain. Can anyone verify this one as well?

Plus, how is Princess Di related to Arbella Churchill, and Bess of Hardwick, individually?

I don't really think (to respond to the 'who's more royal than who' debate) it's a matter of who's more royal.
As long as Prince William becomes King of England, I'd be happy! Because he truly unites the Windsor and Spencer bloodlines.

Also: Does anyone know why William doesn't talk about his ancestry that much? Someone here said he "rarely" talks about it.
 
Perhaps its not very interesting to him. its not, really. ALl he is concerned about, probably is, that he is going to be king some day and that's from his fathers side not his mohthers side.
 
Queen Elizabeth2Fan, on this thread a poster who no longer comments here, Sangre Real016, posted a long list of Diana's ancestors, including the Arabella Churchill line, in post number #67.

Having said that, it is very difficult sometimes to truly verify bloodlines from an illegitimate person, as even if that offspring was acknowledged by the father, there is still of course some doubt.

Most young men aren't interested in their ancestry IMO, unless they are intrigued by a certain forbear or get into genealogy as a hobby. Queen Mary was, as far as I know, the only person in the BRF who had an encyclopedic knowledge of her own and others' bloodlines. Her husband certainly didn't. I believe Charles has an interest to a certain extent but it wouldn't rival his great-grandmother's.
 
When I regret it that royals have let down all requirements ("Princess Meghan") and would like to see royals connecting with historic families, I am gunned down with a bazooka for having outdated views.

The same folks gunning me down then use a magnifying glass to browse to all possible descendants of a Kate or a Meghan to see if there is some drop of blue blood traceable somewhere as if to prove they are really not the Eliza-Doolittle-Next-Door to be time-warped into "royalty".

Lady Diana Spencer had a fabulous ancestry, deeply rooted with all the families which did matter in Britain's long history. She is the daughter from a countryside Earl. Nothing wrong with that. This frantically searching for a possible royal ancestor 8 generations ago somehow gives the impression that Diana was not good enoughi or something.

Claims that Diana is "more royal" are utterly laughable. One only needs to look to Prince Philip's darkblue blooded ancestry, which comes together with that of the Queen in their four children, to wipe away any suggestion that Diana is "more royal" than the Windsors.
 
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I haven't posted here in a while. But, I do check out the site from time to time.

Iain is an "illegitimate" person? As in an illegitimate child, or illegitimate as in not genuine?

And I, myself, am young. I got into genealogy because I wanted to specifically check out the Royal Family's bloodlines.

When I regret it that royals have let down all requirements ("Princess Meghan") and would like to see royals connecting with historic families, I am gunned down with a bazooka for having outdated views.

The same folks gunning me down then use a magnifying glass to browse to all possible descendants of a Kate or a Meghan to see if there is some drop of blue blood traceable somewhere as if to prove they are really not the Eliza-Doolittle-Next-Door to be time-warped into "royalty".

Lady Diana Spencer had a fabulous ancestry, deeply rooted with all the families which did matter in Britain's long history. She is the daughter from a countryside Earl. Nothing wrong with that. This frantically searching for a possible royal ancestor 8 generations ago somehow gives the impression that Diana was not good enoughi or something.

Claims that Diana is "more royal" are utterly laughable. One only needs to look to Prince Philip's darkblue blooded ancestry, which comes together with that of the Queen in their four children, to wipe away any suggestion that Diana is "more royal" than the Windsors.
I definitely don't think your views are outdated!

And who were you addressing when you said someone "was searching for a royal ancestor from 8 generations ago"?

You're right! Diana did, indeed, have a fascinating genealogical blueprint.

I definitely want to get the book that's literally called The Ancestry of Diana, Princess of Wales by Richard K. (I forget his last name), but he lives in my country, the USA, and works for the New England Historical Society. (Or Genealogical, possibly, I forget!)
I want to find out even more information about Diana's bloodlines, through the book. Can anyone tell me if the book is genuine, before I buy it? I've tried to research some information about it and haven't found anything.
 
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I have a couple questions:
Is Diana directly related to:
1) Deborah Mitford, Duchess of Devonshire?;
2) The Monegasque Royal Family?;
3) One of Lady Jane Grey's relatives?;
and
4) Lucrezia Borgia? I know she's related to Caterina Sforza, which is why I'm asking.
and, finally:
5) Does she have any Byzantine lineage?

I've tried Googling "Princess Diana Ancestry" and I've only found one or two interesting articles, but they mention the Windsor side and/or Diana's other ancestries.
 
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