Jump to content

Frances Shand Kydd: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit
No edit summary
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit
 
(32 intermediate revisions by 28 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Use British English|date=May 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}
{{short description|Mother of Diana, Princess of Wales}}
{{short description|Mother of Diana, Princess of Wales (1936–2004)}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = [[The Honourable]]
| honorific_prefix = [[The Honourable]]
| name = Frances Shand Kydd
| name = Frances Shand Kydd
| image = FrancesShandKyddImage.jpg
| image = FrancesShandKyddImage.jpg
| caption = Shand Kydd in October 2002
| caption = Shand Kydd in 2002
| birth_name = Frances Ruth Roche
| birth_name = Frances Ruth Roche
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1936|1|20|df=yes}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1936|1|20|df=yes}}
Line 13: Line 13:
| death_place = [[Seil]], [[Argyll and Bute]], Scotland
| death_place = [[Seil]], [[Argyll and Bute]], Scotland
| resting_place = [[Pennyfuir Cemetery]], [[Oban]], Argyll and Bute, Scotland
| resting_place = [[Pennyfuir Cemetery]], [[Oban]], Argyll and Bute, Scotland
| Religion = [[ Catholic]]
| title = [[Earl Spencer (peerage)|Viscountess Althorp]]
| title = [[Earl Spencer (peerage)|Viscountess Althorp]]
| spouse = {{Ubl
| spouse = {{Ubl
Line 35: Line 34:


==Marriage and children==
==Marriage and children==
On 1 June 1954, she married [[John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer|John Spencer, Viscount Althorp]] (later the 8th [[Earl Spencer (peerage)|Earl Spencer]]), at [[Westminster Abbey]].<ref name=cor4june/> [[Queen Elizabeth II]] and other members of the [[British Royal Family|royal family]] attended the wedding ceremony.<ref name="mgaz1june">{{cite news|date=1 June 1954|title=Queen heads lists guests at wedding|newspaper=The Montreal Gazetta|location=London|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PYEtAAAAIBAJ&pg=5838,281319&dq=frances+ruth+roche&hl=en|access-date=21 July 2013}}</ref> She was 18 years old and became the youngest woman wed in Westminster Abbey since 1893.<ref name=mgaz1june/>
On 1 June 1954, she married [[John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer|John Spencer, Viscount Althorp]] (later the 8th [[Earl Spencer (peerage)|Earl Spencer]]), at [[Westminster Abbey]].<ref name=cor4june/> [[Queen Elizabeth II]] and other members of the [[British Royal Family|royal family]] attended the wedding ceremony.<ref name="mgaz1june">{{cite news|date=1 June 1954|title=Queen heads lists guests at wedding|newspaper=The Montreal Gazetta|location=London|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PYEtAAAAIBAJ&pg=5838,281319&dq=frances+ruth+roche&hl=en|access-date=21 July 2013}}</ref> She was aged eighteen and became the youngest woman married in Westminster Abbey since 1893.<ref name=mgaz1june/>


They had five children:
They had five children:
* [[Lady Sarah McCorquodale]] (born 19 March 1955), who married Neil Edmund McCorquodale, a 2nd cousin once removed of [[Raine Spencer, Countess Spencer|Raine, Countess Spencer]]. Raine (née McCorquodale) was the stepmother of Lady Sarah, so Edmund was not really a blood relative.
* [[Lady Sarah McCorquodale]] (born 19 March 1955), who married Neil Edmund [[Clan McCorquodale|McCorquodale]], a second cousin once removed of her stepmother, [[Raine Spencer, Countess Spencer|Raine, Countess Spencer]].
* [[Jane Fellowes, Baroness Fellowes]] (born 11 February 1957), who married [[Robert Fellowes, Baron Fellowes]], then [[Private Secretary to the Sovereign]].
* [[Jane Fellowes, Baroness Fellowes]] (born 11 February 1957), who married [[Robert Fellowes, Baron Fellowes]], then [[Private Secretary to the Sovereign]].
* [[The Honourable]] John Spencer, who died 10 hours after his birth on 12 January 1960.
* [[The Honourable]] John Spencer (12 January 1960 – 12 January 1960), died within ten hours of his birth
* [[Diana, Princess of Wales]] (1 July 1961 – [[Death of Diana, Princess of Wales|31 August 1997]]), first wife of [[Charles III]].
* [[Diana, Princess of Wales]] (1 July 1961 – [[Death of Diana, Princess of Wales|31 August 1997]]), first wife of [[Charles III]].
* [[Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer]] (born 20 May 1964), who married firstly [[Victoria Aitken|Victoria Lockwood]], secondly Caroline Freud (''née'' Hutton and former wife of [[Matthew Freud]]), and thirdly and presently, [[Karen Spencer, Countess Spencer|Karen Villeneuve]].
* [[Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer]] (born 20 May 1964), who married firstly [[Victoria Aitken|Victoria Lockwood]], secondly Caroline Freud (''née'' Hutton and former wife of [[Matthew Freud]]), and thirdly, [[Karen Spencer, Countess Spencer|Karen Villeneuve]] until 2024.


According to leading gossip columnist and author [[Penny Junor]] "Johnny could be violent, and [Frances] felt she and her children would be safer out of the home."<ref name="CNN-doc">{{cite web|url=https://www.insider.com/princess-diana-father-slap-her-mother-cnn-doc-2021-10|title=Princess Diana once witnessed her father 'slap' her mother during the royal's tumultuous childhood, CNN doc details|work=Insider|first=Rebecca|last=Cohen|date=8 October 2021|accessdate=9 January 2023}}</ref> Their daughter Diana also recalled "seeing my father slap my mother across the face and I was hiding behind the door and she was crying."<ref name="CNN-doc"/>
According to leading gossip columnist and author [[Penny Junor]] "Johnny could be violent, and [Frances] felt she and her children would be safer out of the home."<ref name="CNN-doc">{{cite web|url=https://www.insider.com/princess-diana-father-slap-her-mother-cnn-doc-2021-10|title=Princess Diana once witnessed her father 'slap' her mother during the royal's tumultuous childhood, CNN doc details|work=Insider|first=Rebecca|last=Cohen|date=8 October 2021|accessdate=9 January 2023}}</ref> Their daughter Diana also recalled "seeing my father slap my mother across the face and I was hiding behind the door and she was crying."<ref name="CNN-doc"/>
Line 50: Line 49:
Her marriage to Viscount Althorp was not a happy one and, in 1967, she left him to be with [[Peter Shand Kydd]], an heir to a wallpaper fortune in Australia, whom she had met the year before. His half-brother was the former champion amateur jockey William Shand Kydd (1937–2014), who was the brother-in-law of [[John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan]]. <ref name=cor4june/> Frances lived with her two youngest children, Diana and Charles, in London during the separation in 1967, but during that year's Christmas holidays, Viscount Althorp refused to let his children return to London with their mother.<ref>{{cite book|last=Brown |first=Tina |author-link=Tina Brown |year=2007 |title=The Diana Chronicles |publisher=Doubleday |location=London; New York |isbn=978-0-385-51708-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/dianachronicles00brow_0|pages=40–41}}</ref> He was granted custody of their children by the courts after his former mother-in-law, Lady Fermoy, testified against her own daughter Frances.<ref>''The Times (London)'', Thursday, 8 July 1993; p. 4 col. D and p. 19 col. A</ref>
Her marriage to Viscount Althorp was not a happy one and, in 1967, she left him to be with [[Peter Shand Kydd]], an heir to a wallpaper fortune in Australia, whom she had met the year before. His half-brother was the former champion amateur jockey William Shand Kydd (1937–2014), who was the brother-in-law of [[John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan]]. <ref name=cor4june/> Frances lived with her two youngest children, Diana and Charles, in London during the separation in 1967, but during that year's Christmas holidays, Viscount Althorp refused to let his children return to London with their mother.<ref>{{cite book|last=Brown |first=Tina |author-link=Tina Brown |year=2007 |title=The Diana Chronicles |publisher=Doubleday |location=London; New York |isbn=978-0-385-51708-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/dianachronicles00brow_0|pages=40–41}}</ref> He was granted custody of their children by the courts after his former mother-in-law, Lady Fermoy, testified against her own daughter Frances.<ref>''The Times (London)'', Thursday, 8 July 1993; p. 4 col. D and p. 19 col. A</ref>


Frances and Peter Shand Kydd were married on 2 May 1969 and lived on the Scottish island of [[Seil]], where they bought an 18th-century farmhouse called Ardencaple,<ref>{{cite web|title=Ardencaple House, Isle of Seil|url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/385544|access-date=19 July 2019|publisher=Geograph Britain and Ireland}}</ref> 10 kilometres from [[Oban]]. She divided her time between London, Seil and another sheep farm in [[Yass, New South Wales]]. On 14 July 1976, John Spencer, now the 8th Earl Spencer, married [[Raine Spencer, Countess Spencer|Raine, Countess of Dartmouth]], daughter of the novelist [[Dame Barbara Cartland]].<ref name="scotsman04">{{cite news|date=4 June 2004|title=Life of luxury stripped sparse by tragedy|newspaper=Scotsman|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/life-of-luxury-stripped-sparse-by-tragedy-1-535437|access-date=27 May 2013}}</ref> Although Frances lived a quiet life, she was forced into public view following the engagement of her daughter Diana to [[Prince Charles]] on 24 February 1981.<ref>{{cite news|date=21 June 1982|title=Princess Diana enters hospital in early labor|newspaper=Youngstown Vindicator|agency=AP|location=London|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MyBAAAAAIBAJ&pg=2686,2259663&dq=frances+ruth+roche&hl=en|access-date=21 July 2013}}</ref> Frances and her second husband Peter separated in June 1988.<ref name="Telegraph obit"/> In 1993 Shand Kydd married Marie-Pierre Palmer (''née'' Bécret),<ref name="standard/7231369">{{cite news |last1=Riddington |first1=Max |title=The truth about Di |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/the-truth-about-di-7231369.html |access-date=14 November 2022 |work=[[Evening Standard]] |agency=[[Daily Mail]] |date=13 April 2012 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="thefreelibrary/a0117653046">{{cite news |title=Lonely End of Diana's Sad Mum - a Life of Turmoil for the Mother of the World's Tragic Princess - Family absent as Shand Kydd dies |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/LONELY+END+OF+DIANA%27S+SAD+MUM%3B+A+LIFE+OF+TURMOIL+FOR+THE+M+MOTHER+OF...-a0117653046 |access-date=14 November 2022 |work=[[Daily Record (Scotland)]] |location=Glasgow, Scotland |via=[[Free Online Library]]}}</ref> a French woman who ran a champagne-importing business in London.<ref>Max Riddington. ''Frances - The Remarkable Story of Princess Diana's Mother''</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2017}}
Frances and Peter Shand Kydd were married on 2 May 1969 and lived on the Scottish island of [[Seil]], where they bought an 18th-century farmhouse called Ardencaple,<ref>{{cite web|title=Ardencaple House, Isle of Seil|url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/385544|access-date=19 July 2019|publisher=Geograph Britain and Ireland}}</ref> 10 kilometres from [[Oban]]. She divided her time between London, Seil and another sheep farm in [[Yass, New South Wales]]. On 14 July 1976, John Spencer, now the 8th Earl Spencer, married [[Raine Spencer, Countess Spencer|Raine, Countess of Dartmouth]], daughter of the novelist [[Dame Barbara Cartland]].<ref name="scotsman04">{{cite news|date=4 June 2004|title=Life of luxury stripped sparse by tragedy|newspaper=Scotsman|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/life-of-luxury-stripped-sparse-by-tragedy-1-535437|access-date=27 May 2013}}</ref> Although Frances lived a quiet life, she was forced into public view following the engagement of her daughter Diana to [[Prince Charles]] on 24 February 1981.<ref>{{cite news|date=21 June 1982|title=Princess Diana enters hospital in early labor|newspaper=Youngstown Vindicator|agency=AP|location=London|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MyBAAAAAIBAJ&pg=2686,2259663&dq=frances+ruth+roche&hl=en|access-date=21 July 2013}}</ref> Frances and her second husband Peter separated in June 1988.<ref name="Telegraph obit"/> In 1993 Peter Shand Kydd married Marie-Pierre Palmer (''née'' Bécret),<ref name="standard/7231369">{{cite news |last1=Riddington |first1=Max |title=The truth about Di |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/the-truth-about-di-7231369.html |access-date=14 November 2022 |work=[[Evening Standard]] |agency=[[Daily Mail]] |date=13 April 2012 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="thefreelibrary/a0117653046">{{cite news |title=Lonely End of Diana's Sad Mum – a Life of Turmoil for the Mother of the World's Tragic Princess – Family absent as Shand Kydd dies |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/LONELY+END+OF+DIANA%27S+SAD+MUM%3B+A+LIFE+OF+TURMOIL+FOR+THE+M+MOTHER+OF...-a0117653046 |access-date=14 November 2022 |work=[[Daily Record (Scotland)]] |location=Glasgow, Scotland |via=[[Free Online Library]]}}</ref> a French woman who ran a champagne-importing business in London.<ref>Max Riddington. ''Frances – The Remarkable Story of Princess Diana's Mother''</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2017}}


==Later years==
==Later years==
In 1996, she was banned from driving after being convicted of drink-driving,<ref>{{cite web|date=3 June 2004|title=Obituary: Frances Shand Kydd|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3642707.stm|access-date=29 May 2018|publisher=BBC}}</ref> but denied she had a problem with alcohol. She and Diana quarrelled in May 1997, after she told ''[[Hello! (magazine)|Hello!]]'' magazine that Diana was happy to lose her title of "Royal Highness" following her controversial divorce from King Charles III. She was reportedly not on speaking terms with her daughter by the time of [[Death of Diana, Princess of Wales|Diana's death]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Milmo|first=Cahal|date=25 October 2002|title=Diana did not talk to me in final months, admits her mother|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/diana-did-not-talk-to-me-in-final-months-admits-her-mother-141065.html|access-date=24 October 2016}}</ref><ref name="far14jan">{{cite news|last=Farouky|first=Jumana|date=14 January 2008|title=Diana's Butler Tells Some Secrets|newspaper=Time|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1703424,00.html|url-status=dead|access-date=30 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114034932/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1703424,00.html|archive-date=14 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=24 October 2002|title=Diana's 'rift' with mother|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2357735.stm|access-date=29 May 2018|publisher=BBC}}</ref>
In 1996, she was banned from driving after being convicted of drunk driving,<ref>{{cite web|date=3 June 2004|title=Obituary: Frances Shand Kydd|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3642707.stm|access-date=29 May 2018|publisher=BBC}}</ref> but denied she had a problem with alcohol. She and Diana quarrelled in May 1997, after she told ''[[Hello! (magazine)|Hello!]]'' magazine that Diana was happy to lose her title of "Royal Highness" following her controversial divorce from Prince Charles. She was reportedly not on speaking terms with her daughter by the time of [[Death of Diana, Princess of Wales|Diana's death]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Milmo|first=Cahal|date=25 October 2002|title=Diana did not talk to me in final months, admits her mother|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/diana-did-not-talk-to-me-in-final-months-admits-her-mother-141065.html|access-date=24 October 2016}}</ref><ref name="far14jan">{{cite news|last=Farouky|first=Jumana|date=14 January 2008|title=Diana's Butler Tells Some Secrets|newspaper=Time|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1703424,00.html|url-status=dead|access-date=30 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114034932/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1703424,00.html|archive-date=14 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=24 October 2002|title=Diana's 'rift' with mother|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2357735.stm|access-date=29 May 2018|publisher=BBC}}</ref>


She spent her later years in solitude on Seil.<ref name="her26oct">{{cite news|date=26 October 2002|title=Profile: Frances Shand Kydd|newspaper=The Herald|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-26489144_ITM|access-date=6 July 2013}}</ref> She became a [[Catholicism|Catholic]] and devoted herself to Catholic charities.<ref name="cor4june" /> She eventually became involved with HCPT - The Hosanna House and Children's Pilgrimage Trust, the Royal National Mission for Deep Sea Fishermen, the Mallaig and Northwest Fishermen's Association, and the National Search and Rescue Dogs Association.<ref name="Telegraph obit"/>
She spent her later years in solitude on Seil.<ref name="her26oct">{{cite news|date=26 October 2002|title=Profile: Frances Shand Kydd|newspaper=The Herald|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-26489144_ITM|access-date=6 July 2013}}</ref> She became a [[Catholicism|Catholic]] and devoted herself to Catholic charities.<ref name="cor4june" /> She eventually became involved with The Hosanna House and Children's Pilgrimage Trust, the Royal National Mission for Deep Sea Fishermen, the Mallaig and Northwest Fishermen's Association, and the National Search and Rescue Dogs Association.<ref name="Telegraph obit"/>


In October 2002, when Frances left her Scottish home to give testimony at the trial of Diana's former butler, [[Paul Burrell]], burglars targeted her house and stole her jewelery.<ref>{{cite web|date=25 October 2002|title=Burglars target Diana's mother|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/2360609.stm|access-date=29 May 2018|publisher=BBC}}</ref>
In October 2002, when Frances left her Scottish home to give testimony at the trial of Diana's former butler, [[Paul Burrell]], burglars targeted her house and stole her jewellery.<ref>{{cite web|date=25 October 2002|title=Burglars target Diana's mother|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/2360609.stm|access-date=29 May 2018|publisher=BBC}}</ref>


==Death and burial==
==Death and burial==
Frances died at her home in Scotland at the age of 68 on 3 June 2004, following a long illness that included [[Parkinson's disease]] and [[Brain tumor|brain cancer]].<ref name="hello">{{Cite news|title=Princess Diana's mother dies after a long illness|newspaper=HELLO! magazine|location=UK|url=http://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2004/06/03/francesshandkydd/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=3 June 2004|title=Diana's mother dies 'peacefully'|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3774247.stm|access-date=29 May 2018|publisher=BBC}}</ref> Her funeral at the [[St Columba's Cathedral|Roman Catholic cathedral]] in [[Oban]] on 10 June was attended by her children, sister and grandchildren, including princes [[William, Prince of Wales|William]] (who gave a reading) and [[Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex|Harry]].<ref name="mea4june">{{cite news|last=Meade|first=Geoff|date=4 June 2004|title=Princes mourning their grandmother|newspaper=The Journal|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Princes+mourning+their+grandmother.-a0117651940|access-date=31 May 2013}}</ref><ref name="per11jun">{{cite news|last1=Perry|first1=Simon|last2=Norman|first2=Pete|date=11 June 2004|title=Diana's Mum Laid to Rest, Without Charles|newspaper=People|url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,650151,00.html|access-date=1 June 2013}}</ref> Their father, her former son-in-law, Prince Charles, did not attend because he was travelling to Washington to represent the Royal Family at the [[Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan|state funeral of the former US President Ronald Reagan]] the following day. Frances was buried in [[Pennyfuir Cemetery]] in Oban, Argyll and Bute.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/jun/11/monarchy.gerardseenan|title=Earl Spencer denies family rift|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=10 June 2004}}</ref>
Frances died at her home in Scotland at the age of 68 on June 3, 2004, following a long illness that included [[Parkinson's disease]] and [[Brain tumor|brain cancer]].<ref name="hello">{{Cite news|title=Princess Diana's mother dies after a long illness|newspaper=HELLO! magazine|location=UK|url=http://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2004/06/03/francesshandkydd/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=3 June 2004|title=Diana's mother dies 'peacefully'|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3774247.stm|access-date=29 May 2018|publisher=BBC}}</ref> Her funeral at [[St Columba's Cathedral]] in [[Oban]] on 10 June was attended by her children, sister and grandchildren, including princes [[William, Prince of Wales|William]] (who gave a reading) and [[Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex|Harry]].<ref name="mea4june">{{cite news|last=Meade|first=Geoff|date=4 June 2004|title=Princes mourning their grandmother|newspaper=The Journal|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Princes+mourning+their+grandmother.-a0117651940|access-date=31 May 2013}}</ref><ref name="per11jun">{{cite news|last1=Perry|first1=Simon|last2=Norman|first2=Pete|date=11 June 2004|title=Diana's Mum Laid to Rest, Without Charles|newspaper=People|url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,650151,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080320012337/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,650151,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 March 2008|access-date=1 June 2013}}</ref> Their father, her former son-in-law, Prince Charles, did not attend because he was travelling to Washington to represent the Royal Family at the [[Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan|state funeral of the former US President]] [[Ronald Reagan]] the following day. Frances was buried in [[Pennyfuir Cemetery]] in Oban, Argyll and Bute.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/jun/11/monarchy.gerardseenan|title=Earl Spencer denies family rift|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=10 June 2004}}</ref>


==Biography==
==Biography==
In 2004, [[Maxine Riddington]] published a biographical book about her, entitled ''Frances: The Remarkable Story of Princess Diana's Mother''.<ref name="amazon">{{cite book|last1=Riddington|first1=Max|title=Books|last2=Naden|first2=Gavan|year=2003|publisher=Michael O'Mara |isbn=1843170434}}</ref>
In 2001, [[Maxine Riddington]] published a biographical book about her, entitled ''Frances: The Remarkable Story of Princess Diana's Mother''.<ref name="amazon">{{cite book|last1=Riddington|first1=Max|title=Books|last2=Naden|first2=Gavan|year=2003|publisher=Michael O'Mara |isbn=1843170434}}</ref>


== Ancestry ==
== Ancestry ==
Line 104: Line 103:
[[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism]]
[[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism]]
[[Category:Daughters of barons]]
[[Category:Daughters of barons]]
[[Category:British people of American descent]]
[[Category:Deaths from brain cancer in Scotland]]
[[Category:British people of Indian descent]]
[[Category:Deaths from Parkinson's disease in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:British people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:English people of American descent]]
[[Category:British people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:English people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:English people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:English Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:English Roman Catholics]]
⚫
[[Category:Neurological disease deaths in Scotland]]
⚫
[[Category:Nobility from Argyll and Bute]]
[[Category:People from Sandringham, Norfolk]]
[[Category:People from Sandringham, Norfolk]]
[[Category:Roche family|Frances]]
[[Category:Roche family|Frances]]
[[Category:Spencer family|Frances Shand Kydd]]
⚫
[[Category:Nobility from Argyll and Bute]]
[[Category:Seil]]
[[Category:Seil]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Scotland]]
[[Category:Spencer family|Frances Shand Kydd]]
⚫
[[Category:Neurological disease deaths in Scotland]]
[[Category:Deaths from brain tumor]]
[[Category:Deaths from Parkinson's disease]]

Latest revision as of 17:21, 1 January 2025

The Honourable
Frances Shand Kydd
Shand Kydd in 2002
Born
Frances Ruth Roche

(1936-01-20)20 January 1936
Sandringham, Norfolk, England
Died3 June 2004(2004-06-03) (aged 68)
Seil, Argyll and Bute, Scotland
Resting placePennyfuir Cemetery, Oban, Argyll and Bute, Scotland
TitleViscountess Althorp
Spouses
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1954; div. 1969)​
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1969; div. 1990)​
Children
Parents

Frances Ruth Shand Kydd (previously Spencer, née Roche; 20 January 1936 – 3 June 2004) was the mother of Diana, Princess of Wales. She was the maternal grandmother of William, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, respectively first and fifth in the line of succession to the British throne. Following her divorce from Viscount Althorp in 1969, and Diana's death in 1997, Shand Kydd devoted the final years of her life to Catholic charity work following her conversion to Catholicism.

Early life

[edit]

She was born Frances Ruth Roche at Park House, on the royal estate at Sandringham, Norfolk, on 20 January 1936.[1][2] Her birth was on the same day as the death of George V. Her father was Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy, a friend of George VI and the elder son of the American heiress Frances Ellen Work and her first husband, the 3rd Baron Fermoy.[2] Her mother, Ruth Roche, Baroness Fermoy, a daughter of Colonel William Smith Gill, was a confidante and lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother).[3] Since birth, she held the style of The Honourable as the daughter of a baron. She was educated at Downham School in Essex.[4]

Marriage and children

[edit]

On 1 June 1954, she married John Spencer, Viscount Althorp (later the 8th Earl Spencer), at Westminster Abbey.[2] Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the royal family attended the wedding ceremony.[5] She was aged eighteen and became the youngest woman married in Westminster Abbey since 1893.[5]

They had five children:

According to leading gossip columnist and author Penny Junor "Johnny could be violent, and [Frances] felt she and her children would be safer out of the home."[6] Their daughter Diana also recalled "seeing my father slap my mother across the face and I was hiding behind the door and she was crying."[6]

Divorce and remarriage

[edit]
Ardencaple house

Her marriage to Viscount Althorp was not a happy one and, in 1967, she left him to be with Peter Shand Kydd, an heir to a wallpaper fortune in Australia, whom she had met the year before. His half-brother was the former champion amateur jockey William Shand Kydd (1937–2014), who was the brother-in-law of John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan. [2] Frances lived with her two youngest children, Diana and Charles, in London during the separation in 1967, but during that year's Christmas holidays, Viscount Althorp refused to let his children return to London with their mother.[7] He was granted custody of their children by the courts after his former mother-in-law, Lady Fermoy, testified against her own daughter Frances.[8]

Frances and Peter Shand Kydd were married on 2 May 1969 and lived on the Scottish island of Seil, where they bought an 18th-century farmhouse called Ardencaple,[9] 10 kilometres from Oban. She divided her time between London, Seil and another sheep farm in Yass, New South Wales. On 14 July 1976, John Spencer, now the 8th Earl Spencer, married Raine, Countess of Dartmouth, daughter of the novelist Dame Barbara Cartland.[10] Although Frances lived a quiet life, she was forced into public view following the engagement of her daughter Diana to Prince Charles on 24 February 1981.[11] Frances and her second husband Peter separated in June 1988.[3] In 1993 Peter Shand Kydd married Marie-Pierre Palmer (née Bécret),[12][13] a French woman who ran a champagne-importing business in London.[14][page needed]

Later years

[edit]

In 1996, she was banned from driving after being convicted of drunk driving,[15] but denied she had a problem with alcohol. She and Diana quarrelled in May 1997, after she told Hello! magazine that Diana was happy to lose her title of "Royal Highness" following her controversial divorce from Prince Charles. She was reportedly not on speaking terms with her daughter by the time of Diana's death.[16][17][18]

She spent her later years in solitude on Seil.[19] She became a Catholic and devoted herself to Catholic charities.[2] She eventually became involved with The Hosanna House and Children's Pilgrimage Trust, the Royal National Mission for Deep Sea Fishermen, the Mallaig and Northwest Fishermen's Association, and the National Search and Rescue Dogs Association.[3]

In October 2002, when Frances left her Scottish home to give testimony at the trial of Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, burglars targeted her house and stole her jewellery.[20]

Death and burial

[edit]

Frances died at her home in Scotland at the age of 68 on June 3, 2004, following a long illness that included Parkinson's disease and brain cancer.[21][22] Her funeral at St Columba's Cathedral in Oban on 10 June was attended by her children, sister and grandchildren, including princes William (who gave a reading) and Harry.[23][24] Their father, her former son-in-law, Prince Charles, did not attend because he was travelling to Washington to represent the Royal Family at the state funeral of the former US President Ronald Reagan the following day. Frances was buried in Pennyfuir Cemetery in Oban, Argyll and Bute.[25]

Biography

[edit]

In 2001, Maxine Riddington published a biographical book about her, entitled Frances: The Remarkable Story of Princess Diana's Mother.[26]

Ancestry

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ England & Wales, Birth Index, Jan–Feb–Mar 1936, 4b 344, Freedbridge Lynn, Norfolk
  2. ^ a b c d e Corby, Tom (4 June 2004). "Frances Shand Kydd". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  3. ^ a b c "Frances Shand Kydd". The Telegraph. 4 June 2004. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  4. ^ "History of Down Hall" (PDF). downhall.co.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Queen heads lists guests at wedding". The Montreal Gazetta. London. 1 June 1954. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  6. ^ a b Cohen, Rebecca (8 October 2021). "Princess Diana once witnessed her father 'slap' her mother during the royal's tumultuous childhood, CNN doc details". Insider. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  7. ^ Brown, Tina (2007). The Diana Chronicles. London; New York: Doubleday. pp. 40–41. ISBN 978-0-385-51708-9.
  8. ^ The Times (London), Thursday, 8 July 1993; p. 4 col. D and p. 19 col. A
  9. ^ "Ardencaple House, Isle of Seil". Geograph Britain and Ireland. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  10. ^ "Life of luxury stripped sparse by tragedy". Scotsman. 4 June 2004. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  11. ^ "Princess Diana enters hospital in early labor". Youngstown Vindicator. London. AP. 21 June 1982. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  12. ^ Riddington, Max (13 April 2012). "The truth about Di". Evening Standard. Daily Mail. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  13. ^ "Lonely End of Diana's Sad Mum – a Life of Turmoil for the Mother of the World's Tragic Princess – Family absent as Shand Kydd dies". Daily Record (Scotland). Glasgow, Scotland. Retrieved 14 November 2022 – via Free Online Library.
  14. ^ Max Riddington. Frances – The Remarkable Story of Princess Diana's Mother
  15. ^ "Obituary: Frances Shand Kydd". BBC. 3 June 2004. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  16. ^ Milmo, Cahal (25 October 2002). "Diana did not talk to me in final months, admits her mother". The Independent. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  17. ^ Farouky, Jumana (14 January 2008). "Diana's Butler Tells Some Secrets". Time. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  18. ^ "Diana's 'rift' with mother". BBC. 24 October 2002. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  19. ^ "Profile: Frances Shand Kydd". The Herald. 26 October 2002. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
  20. ^ "Burglars target Diana's mother". BBC. 25 October 2002. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  21. ^ "Princess Diana's mother dies after a long illness". HELLO! magazine. UK.
  22. ^ "Diana's mother dies 'peacefully'". BBC. 3 June 2004. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  23. ^ Meade, Geoff (4 June 2004). "Princes mourning their grandmother". The Journal. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  24. ^ Perry, Simon; Norman, Pete (11 June 2004). "Diana's Mum Laid to Rest, Without Charles". People. Archived from the original on 20 March 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  25. ^ "Earl Spencer denies family rift". The Guardian. 10 June 2004.
  26. ^ Riddington, Max; Naden, Gavan (2003). Books. Michael O'Mara. ISBN 1843170434.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Frances_Shand_Kydd&oldid=1266657363"