CyrilVladisla
Imperial Majesty
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2013
- Messages
- 12,133
- City
- Conneaut
- Country
- United States
She was a woman ruled by ambition.
Why was Lady Fermoy ruled by ambition?
She was a woman ruled by ambition.
As a close friend and Woman of the Bedchamber to the Queen Mother she of all people knew how unsuited Charles and Diana were. But aside from a mild warning to Diana she chose to remain silent. Born into an upper middle class family IMO she welcomed the thought of her granddaughter marrying the future king. She also testified against her own daughter - Diana's mother - when Frances and Johnnie Spencer divorced.Why was Lady Fermoy ruled by ambition?
Genetics is a wonderful thing and we're learning more and more each year. In the late 50s, medical science was a lot different than we know of it today. In fact, PMS hadn't been invented yet and women were told its all in their heads and given "mother's little helpers" to get through the day. I can attest to it still being somewhat the case even in the early 70s.
I've always had an amusing idea that I'd love to time travel back to the time of Henry VIII as a photographer with a geneticist in tow and capture forever the look on Henry's face when it sinks in that its *his* genes that are producing girl children.
As for Frances, I highly doubt that there was any kind of tests at the time to determine why a woman bore one sex of a child over another. As it happened, Frances did produce two boys. John, the child that died before Diana was born and later on, Charles.
This is going off topic but certianly there were biographies of Diana that did state that Johny had been phyiscally cruel to his wife.. However I dont think it is true. I think that he wasn't an easy person to live with, and Frances was bored with him and hurt by all the issues about having a male heir and she got fed up with him.. She turned to Peter Shand Kydd and I get the impression that Johnny was prepared to overlook the affair for a time.. but Frances wanted more.. She wanted to get out of her marriage and marry the man she had now fallen in love with... So she left and took the 2 younger children. I think that Johnny was blindsided.. He wasn't a very smart guy and he didn't realize that his marriage had gotten to such a pitch that his wife wanted out of it and wasn't coming back.. and then he got angry and tried to make it difficult for her and one of the things he could do was contest the custody of the children. His mother in law was angry at Frances and stiffened Johnny's resolve to at least make sure the children did not go to live with their mother
They may have liked her, but Diana had a difficult relationship with her...One of my least liked aristocrats was Lady Fermoy. She testified against her daughter, which allowed Viscount Althorp to retain custody of Diana and her siblings. She denied that she and the Queen Mother were in collusion to match up Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. However for her to give testimony against her own daughter Frances in the divorce can not be denied and if you are family oriented like myself, that was the ultimate in the betrayal of trust or confidence of a blood relative. The old saying comes to mind, "If you have nothing nice to say, then say nothing at all."
I suspect she was too worried about her family’s reputation in front of the royal family and felt that had more importance than the love of her daughter. Maybe I have read too many unkind remarks about her, and so possibly just pure speculation.
I did like Diana’s mother, even though many unkind remarks were made on her as well. However, Ken Wharfe and Patrick Jephson both exclaimed that they liked Frances.
They may have liked her, but Diana had a difficult relationship with her...
I'd say that as an adult Diana's relationship with her mother was much more off than on. She was a stormy person but even so I think she had reason to be wary of her mother and sadly, they were on non speaking terms for several months at the end of Di's life and Diana died without ever making up with her. And Frances' own behaviour was far from ideal. Lady Fermoy was also a selfish woman but not more than Frances IMO... She wanted the best for her grandchildren and thought that they'd be better being brought up on their father's estate than in London with their mother and her husband whom she considered "in trade". However it was the 1960s and a deserting or unfaithful wife did often lose custody of her children...That is true but sometimes they got along rather well and it was said that Diana confided in her. Compare that to Lady Fermoy's betrayal.
Both Lady Fermoy and the queen mother were both 1950's widows no wonder they got on so famously.
One of my least liked aristocrats was Lady Fermoy. She testified against her daughter, which allowed Viscount Althorp to retain custody of Diana and her siblings. She denied that she and the Queen Mother were in collusion to match up Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. However for her to give testimony against her own daughter Frances in the divorce can not be denied and if you are family oriented like myself, that was the ultimate in the betrayal of trust or confidence of a blood relative. The old saying comes to mind, "If you have nothing nice to say, then say nothing at all."
I suspect she was too worried about her family’s reputation in front of the royal family and felt that had more importance than the love of her daughter. Maybe I have read too many unkind remarks about her, and so possibly just pure speculation.
I did like Diana’s mother, even though many unkind remarks were made on her as well. However, Ken Wharfe and Patrick Jephson both exclaimed that they liked Frances.
Both Lady Fermoy and the queen mother were both 1950's widows no wonder they got on so famously.
Not sure why that would mean they got on well...
That act of betrayal was indeed cruel, and no surprise that she was in cahoots with the Queen Mum, another woman who had to have her own way and was quite a different person in private. Both women thought they may have been gracious, upstanding women but both were privately something else.
There were other reasons, too - both had no liking for those who went against the family narrative and sought a degree of personal happiness.
Both, actually, cannot be seen as very good role models, either. You just don't betray family!
Lady Fermoy was a friend and lady in waiting to the queen mother, but I dont see why widowhood should make them friends. I woudl guess that they shared common interests....Common ground as both had long widowhoods and by accounts they did.
Lady Fermoy was a friend and lady in waiting to the queen mother, but I dont see why widowhood should make them friends. I woudl guess that they shared common interests....
I'm sure they did and Lady Fermoy was in the queen mothers household for over 30 years.
I did find the photo of the queen mother and Lady Fermoy earlier though not sure what year it was from.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/df/a2/52/dfa252ccba5b64b0fbe3409492f792e3.jpg