Who was princess diana's mother and what did she do??

Question

Who was princess diana's mother and what did she do??

Answer 1

The Honourable Frances Ruth Burke Shand Kydd was the mother of Diana, Princess of Wales. Born Frances Ruth Burke Roche, Mrs. Shand Kydd was the daughter of the Fourth Baron Fermoy. Her mother, Lady Fermoy, was a confidante and lady in waiting to the late queen mother and was later said to have had a hand in promoting Diana's marriage to Prince Charles. After two failed marriages and the deaths of two children, she devoted her later years to Roman Catholic charity work.

She died on 3 June 2004 following a long illness that included Parkinson's disease and brain cancer, aged 68. This was the anniversary of the birth of King George V, a curious coincidence given that she was born on the very day that George V died. (George V was the great-grandfather of her one-time son-in-law Prince Charles.)

Answer 2

The Honourable Frances Ruth Burke Shand Kydd (20 January 1936 – 3 June 2004) was the wife of John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer and the mother of Diana, Princess of Wales. After two failed marriages and the deaths of two children, she devoted her later years to Roman Catholic charity work.

Early life

Shand Kydd was born Frances Ruth Burke Roche in Park House, on the royal estate at Sandringham, Norfolk. Her father was Edmund Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy, a friend of King George VI and the elder son of the American heiress Frances Work and her first husband, the 3rd Baron Fermoy. Her mother Ruth, Lady Fermoy DCVO was a confidante and lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother).

[edit] Marriage to John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer

On 1 June 1954, aged 18, Roche married John Spencer, Viscount Althorp (later the 8th Earl Spencer) at Westminster Abbey. She was then known as Viscountess Althorp (the name is pronounced Altrup).

The Althorps had five children:

Elizabeth Sarah Lavinia Spencer (19 March 1955), who married Neil Edmund McCorquodale, a distant cousin of Raine, Countess Spencer

Cynthia Jane Spencer (11 February 1957), who married Sir Robert Fellowes, later Baron Fellowes

John Spencer, who died within 10 hours of his birth on 12 January 1960

Diana Frances Spencer later Diana, Princess of Wales (1 July 1961–31 August 1997), first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales

Charles Edward Maurice Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer (20 May 1964), who married Victoria Lockwood, then Caroline Freud (the latter formerly wife of Matthew Freud)

The British media made comparisons between Lady Althorp's and Diana's lives, because both were inexperienced young women who were thrust into the spotlight by marriage to much older men in higher stations. As with the marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales, the marriage between Lord and Lady Althorp was not a happy one. Diana, Princess of Wales strongly resembled her mother in appearance and character, as well.[citation needed]

In 1967, Lady Althorp ran off with Peter Shand Kydd, an heir to a wallpaper fortune, whom she had met the year before. Subsequently, she was named "the other woman" in Janet Shand Kydd's divorce action against her husband. The Althorps were divorced in April 1969, and Lady Althorp was now known as The Hon. Frances, Viscountess Althorp.

[edit] Personal life after divorce

In 1976, Lord Althorp married Raine, Countess of Dartmouth, the daughter of novelist Barbara Cartland. (Deeply unpopular with her step-children, she was nicknamed "Acid Raine".) He eventually won a bitter custody battle over the children. Lady Althorp married Shand Kydd on 2 May 1969, and she was known as The Honourable Mrs. Shand Kydd. They lived on the remote Scottish island of Seil. Much against her wishes, she was forced into public view following the marriage of Diana to the Prince of Wales in 1981.

The Shand Kydds separated in June 1988 after he left his wife for a younger woman, and were later divorced. Frances Shand Kydd blamed the pressure of media attention for the breakdown of the marriage. She was well respected on the island and was known for taking long walks and for her love of fishing. Peter Shand Kydd died in 2006.

In 1996 Shand Kydd was banned from driving after being convicted of drunk-driving, 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 "Her Royal Highness" following her divorce from the Prince of Wales. They were reportedly not on speaking terms at the time of Diana's death.[citation needed]

[edit] Diana's death

After Diana's death, Shand Kydd made a point of visiting the family of Henri Paul, the man driving the Mercedes Diana and her companion Dodi Al-Fayed were in when it crashed in a Paris tunnel, killing all three of them. "Strange though it may seem, Diana's funeral was probably the proudest day of my life," she said. "Proud of her, proud of my daughters who were rock steady in their readings, and my son who gave the ultimate tribute of brotherly love for her."

In 2002 Shand Kydd testified at the trial of Diana's former butler Paul Burrell, where she was forced to admit that she and Diana had been estranged for several months before Diana's death. She spent her final years in solitude on Seil. She converted to Roman Catholicism and devoted herself to Catholic charities.

[edit] Death

She died on 3 June 2004 following a long illness that included Parkinson's disease and brain cancer, aged 68. This was the anniversary of the birth of King George V, a curious coincidence given that she was born on the very day that George V died. (George V was the great-grandfather of her one-time son-in-law Prince Charles.)

[edit] Funeral

Her funeral at the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Oban on 10 June was attended by many of her children and grandchildren, including Princes William (who gave a reading) and Harry. Their father, her former son-in-law, Prince Charles, did not attend because he was en route to another funeral - going to Washington to lead the British delegation at the funeral of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan the following day.

[edit] Titles from birth to death

The Honourable Frances Burke Roche (1936–1954)

Viscountess Althorp (1954–1969)

The Hon. Frances, Viscountess Althorp (1969)

The Honourable Mrs. Shand Kydd (1969–2004)

Answer 3

Princess Francis ' bonkers' Shand Kidd.  

She went to Argentina and may be dead.  A bit like Martin Bormann.

She was better known by her 'nom-de-plume' of 'Barbara Cartland'

Answer 4

Frances Shand Kydd, she passed away a couple of years ago.  http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-...

Answer 5

Died when Diana was around 9.

Answer 6

The Honourable Frances Ruth Burke Shand Kydd (20 January 1936 – 3 June 2004) was the wife of John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer and the mother of Diana, Princess of Wales. After two failed marriages and the deaths of two children, she devoted her later years to Roman Catholic charity work.

Answer 7

Frances Fermoy(20 January 1936 – 3 June 2004)  was from a monied family.Her father, Maurice, was raised in New York by his American-born mother,an heiress who married the second son of an Irish peer,Baron Fermoy.The baron's son abandoned his family,and Maurice expected to live his life on Park Avenue in New York.But Maurice became heir to the Fermoy title in 1921,due to some untimely deaths in the family. He moved to England, married Ruth Gill,scion of a Scottish colonel from Aberdeen.The Fermoys were great friends of the then Duke of York,who would become George VI.

Frances was reared to marry well;her mother,Ruth,considered Johnnie Spencer,heir to the earldom of Althorp, a great catch for her youngest daughter and did everything in her power to get them together.

Frances married Johnnie Spencer,Viscount Althorp and had several children: Jane,Sarah,Diana,and Charles.Unfortunatley,she also lost a child;in 1960,John Spencer died soon after birth.

The marriage did not succeed.Frances left Spencer for Peter Shand-Kydd. A scandalous divorce followed.

Frances Shand-Kydd eventually would divorce Shand-Kydd, convert to Catholicism,move to the Isle of Seil on the coast of Scotland,where she would work as a volunteer for many charities. SHe made annual pilgrimages to Lourdes as a carer for diasabled people. In Oban, Scitland,she was involved in many charities. She would visit families of fishermen lost at sea;she would visit mothers who had lost children.She even gave comfort to the family of Henri Paul,the driver on that fateful night in Paris. The Honourable Mrs. Shand-Kydd died in 2004 at the age of 68;she had been suffering from Parkinson's Disease and brain cancer.