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

[Zonk]

I think there were a couple of reasons why the children disliked Raine [just my opinion and no particular order]

they resented a new woman in their father's life, she wasn't their mother and she convinced her husband to sell heirlooms [paintings, furniture, etc] to help ease the financial burden of Althrop.

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if the late Earl had passed prior to Charles coming of age, I would imagine he would have had picked a responsible person as executor to manage the estate until Charles had come of age. It definitely would not have been Frances, I don't think they had friendly relations even for the sake of the children after the divorce. I don't think he would have picked Sarah either. ...maybe Jane and someone else [another peer, lawyer, banker, etc.].

 

[Tilia C.]

I agree with you, Zonk. There must have been a will that settled the management of the estate in case that the Earl died while Charles was under age. Maybe even more than one person were named for the task, to make sure that no single person could make fatal decisions that were not in the best interest of the heir. But we will never know who these persons would have been, because of the privacy with which such a will would have been handled.

 

[Duch_Luver_4ever]

I dont know if this ever was in the museum or exhibit, and the auctions dealt mostly with the posh dresses, but what ever happened to the purple ensemble( in my avatar) she wore working at young england , with the infamous sun behind her pics?

While maybe not worthy of Christie's, it was an iconic outfit and pics, many of my favorite ones are in that set. She looked so adorable and innocent in it, I hope it was preserved for posterity.

 

[Roslyn]

I would be absolutely delighted to see that outfit turn up in an exhibition, but I suspect that when Diana moved out of her home when the engagement announcement was made, and made the transition from Sloane Ranger to fiancée of the Prince of Wales, none of her old clothing would have made the move with her. I doubt anyone in the BRF or their retainers would have thought it worth preserving for posterity, and I can't imagine her own family rushing to save it.

 

[Mermaid1962]

I'd think that she'd probably have moved some of her clothes with her after she got engaged, because she didn't have her whole new wardrobe put together right away. Probably her regular working clothes gradually got given away and/or thrown out, depending on their condition.

 

[Duch_Luver_4ever]

I would be absolutely delighted to see that outfit turn up in an exhibition, but I suspect that when Diana moved out of her home when the engagement announcement was made, and made the transition from Sloane Ranger to fiancée of the Prince of Wales, none of her old clothing would have made the move with her. I doubt anyone in the BRF or their retainers would have thought it worth preserving for posterity, and I can't imagine her own family rushing to save it.

Agreed, she was probably happy to be rid of them, starting a new life and all. They were probably binned or given to the salvation army. Shame though, that one and her blue sweater and grey skirt are some of my fav outfits and pics of her. Most people went gaga over the clothes and jewels but her sloane ranger look was all I ever needed.

 

[Dman]

Inside Look at Althorp:
NBC On Assignment Airs Sunday, May 27th at 7/6c-
On Assignment: Heir B&B - NBC News

Princess Diana's childhood home Althorp opens to overnight guests | Daily Mail Online

 

[Rudolph]

The Vatican has taken a key step along the road to declaring an English aristocrat related to Princes William and Harry to be a saint

A 20-year investigation into the life and works of Fr Ignatius Spencer has been approved by Vatican historians, it emerged yesterday.

The document, known as a positio, has now been passed over to theologians of the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Sainthood.

If they decide there is “evidence of sanctity”, they will then ask Pope Francis to declare the Victorian Passionist priest as “Venerable”.

Read more: Relation to Princess Diana on road to becoming a saint – CatholicHerald.co.uk

 

[Benjamin]

Raine Spencer has died at the age of 87.

She was the stepmother of the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

Princess Diana's stepmother Raine Spencer dies at 87 - BBC News

 

[Dman]

My condolences to the Spencer family and the family of the late Countess.

 

[wyevale]

RIP 'Acid' Raine Dartmouth/Spencer,/de Chambrun. The 'wicked Stepmother' in that 80s Fairytale 'Charles & Diana'.

I well remember 'Private Eye's' spoof of her ticket to St Paul's Cathedral, that memorable day.

'Raine, Countess Spencer- Seat 87,Row Z [restricted view]'

 

[Moonmaiden23]

I was stunned years ago when I read about the cruel, clever but hilarious nickname the Spencer children gave to the stepmother they loathed...ACID RAINE.

One of Diana's biographers wrote that the Spencer children "had a capacity for hatred that was frightening" but I was relieved to know that the late Princess of Wales had forged a bond with Raine before her death in 1997.

I wonder if Earl Spencer and and his two surviving sisters ever did?

RIP Raine.

 

[Mirabel]

RIP 'Acid' Raine Dartmouth/Spencer,/de Chambrun. The 'wicked Stepmother' in that 80s Fairytale 'Charles & Diana'.

I well remember 'Private Eye's' spoof of her ticket to St Paul's Cathedral, that memorable day.

'Raine, Countess Spencer- Seat 87,Row Z [restricted view]'

I never understood why the Spencer children loathed Raine so much.

What did she do? Was it personal, or would they simply have detested any woman their father chose to marry?

 

[Dman]

I never understood why the Spencer children loathed Raine so much.

What did she do? Was it personal, or would they simply have detested any woman their father chose to marry?

Normal stepmom and step kids drama.

 

[Queen Claude]

I am pretty sure that Raine was flawed and made mistakes but it seemed to me that a lot of the anger she got from her step-children was misplaced, and that their issues should have been with their father.

 

[Pranter]

Well from what I read one of the biggest issues was that she came in and started (not that she didn't have authority from the Earl) paintings etc etc in order to do repairs needed and pay debts etc. Also I have gotten the impression they weren't so happy with having a 'layer' between them and their father.


LaRae

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

Princess Diana’s stepmother Raine Spencer dies at the age of 87 | Daily Mail Online

 

[Countessmeout]

RIP countess spencer. And my condolences to William, Rupert, Henry and Charlotte and their kids on the loss of their mother/grandmother

As for her stepchildren, one could hope they found some peace with her. She after all nursed their father through years of illness though at the time if his death his don and Raine were on bad terms. They may not have liked her style, but much of what she did was needed repairs to their home and covering debt. Sad to think the wicked stepmother attitude can still be held by adults.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Charles Spencer is said to have been upset by the renovations to Althorp House that Raine undertook during her marriage to Johnny. She apparently sold off ancient treasures that had been part of the Spencer heritage for 400 years. She did so to make the place solvent and I commend her for that, but I also understand Charles and his siblings being appalled at having their inheritance sold out from under them by their step-mother.

Charles and his sisters felt that Althorp looked tacky, nouveau riche and gaudy after Raine's "improvements".

Raine allegedly used the ancient Chapel at Althorp as a storage room, something Charles found particularly offensive.(I don't blame him for that!) One of his first actions when he came to the earldom was to restore the Chapel to it's intended use as a place of worship.

 

[Countessmeout]

As I understand althorp wasn't simply redecorated, it needed major repairs. She didn't sell their inheritance from under them. She saved it, by repairing a very old house that needed it, and paying off heavy debts the family had. Perhaps her style was not gaudy but Charles harps a fine house over his head not falling down and didn't inherit a huge debt because rain fun what needs to be fine. Though one could wish she hired a decorator. But do agree on chapel.

 

[Rudolph]

The children didn't need to be too upset. Althorp is still loaded to the ceilings with art and old paintings.

It would take a few lifetimes to sell it all. The Spencers were once the richest family in England.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

I'm no shrink but my hunch is that the Spencer kids focused the anger and resentment they felt at their father for remarrying and "abandoning" them on his new wife. Obviously it was not acceptable to taunt and torment their father in the manner they did the new Countess Spencer (even though Diana boasted to Andrew Morton in her dubious "True Story" that she once slapped Johnny across the face to express her feelings).

Their adored father was the real target of their rage and Raine was made to pay.

Johnny Spencer was a doting but passive father who turned the other cheek(literally in the case of Diana if her recollection of slapping him is true).

He apparently neither defended his new wife nor attempted to rein in his children.

 

[Pranter]

I think there was some issue too one of the times the Earl was sick, Raine wasn't letting them into the hospital room to see him or something.

Diana seems to have somewhat reconciled with Raine before her death.


LaRae

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Yes thank you Pranter I had forgotten about that.

When Johnny Spencer suffered his near fatal stroke in 1978 Raine is credited with sticking by his side and virtually willing him to live but in the process she is alleged to have kept everyone else away from him, including his children.

Diana in particular was incensed at being kept away from "Daddy"'s sick room.

It was not until close to the end of her life and during the period of estrangement from her own mother Frances that Diana began to appreciate what Raine had done for her father.

But I'm not sure if Charles, Sarah and Jane ever did.

 

[Pranter]

I don't think any of the other kids have spoken about it so yeah they may not of reconciled with her.

You never saw them with her, that I'm aware of, after the death of the Earl.

LaRae

 

[wyevale]

'Dysfunctional' doesn't even BEGIN to describe the menage that was the Althrop Raine walked into... 4 DEEPLY damaged young people traumatised by their 'bolter' of a Mother leaving them, and their beloved Father.
Raine [a very 'strong 'character'] was inevitably resented/detested by the children, who ganged up on her, with their Father remaining neutral [at best]. The subsequent histories of ALL [but one] of the children speaks volumes of the mess that was made of their upbringing, and [I would argue] Raine contributed relatively little to that mess, the damage being [largely] already done.

 

[Osipi]

I don't think any of the other kids have spoken about it so yeah they may not of reconciled with her.

You never saw them with her, that I'm aware of, after the death of the Earl.

LaRae

There may be a good explanation for that. Johnny Spencer died on March 29, 1992 and Raine remarried again 16 months later in July of 1993 to Count Jean-François Pineton de Chambrun. The Spencer children most likely could have felt that everyone had moved on and it all was water under the bridge by that time.

As the relationship with the Spencer children was frosty at its best even though Diana did seem to come to an understanding with Raine, once their father was out of the picture and Charles inherited Althorp, it had to be common knowledge that Raine was seeing someone that she would eventually marry. There was really nothing left to fight about or have resentments about.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

I wonder if Charles will permit her to be buried at Althorp, or if Raine even wanted to be considering how miserably she was treated there?

 

[Mermaid1962]

It would be nice if some of the Spencers went to Raine's funeral. It would show that bygones are bygones.

 

[Osipi]

I wonder if Charles will permit her to be buried at Althorp, or if Raine even wanted to be considering how miserably she was treated there?

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.