Why was Princess Diana originally called Lady Diana Spencer, was she a royal by birth?

Question

from what I heard, his father was also an Earl.

Answer 1

Born the youngest daughter of Edward John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, later John Spencer, the 8th Earl Spencer,  Lady Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales, was entitled to use the courtesy title "Lady" from the moment her dad succeeded his father to become Earl Spencer.  The Earldom, along with the title Viscount Althorp, was created in 1765.  The aristocratic, although not royal, Spencer family rose to prominence during the English Civil War period, although the family's fortune was founded by a Sir John Spencer, a grocer and wool merchant during the Tudor period.

Lady Diana as a Spencer is also a descendant of Charles II through three of his mistresses--Barbara Villers, Lucy Walters, and Louise de Keroualle--not to mention being a descendant of James II by his mistress, Arabella Churchill.  

Lady Diana is buried at the Spencer family seat of Althorp because she lost her title of HRH upon her divorce, meaning she lost her royal by marriage status.

Answer 2

Though she was a commoner, she was an aristocrat....hence the title "Lady" and henceforth, no, she was not born royalty.

Answer 3

Diana married the queens first son.

Answer 4

Diana was not a princess by birth. She was born The Honorable Diana Frances Spencer,since her father, then Viscount  Althorp,was then heir to his father,who was the 7th Earl Spencer.Her father,Johnnie,became the eighth Earl Spencer June 9,1975,when Diana was 13.She then became The Lady Diana Frances Spencer.

There is a difference between Royalty and the Peerage. The aristocratic peerage is what Diana was born into.Although there are Royal versions of Dukes,Marquesses,Earls,

Viscounts,

Barons,et cetera,the gentry are all commoners,titled and privleged,but still commoners.

Answer 5

She was the daughter of an Earl.  That made her a lady.

That's nobility.  Not royalty.  She IS descended from Victoria, but that was a distant sort of thing.

Answer 6

No she wasn't royal at birth because her husband remarried and they're considered royal. So nope

Answer 7

Diana's father became the 8th Earl Spencer, at which time she became Lady Diana Spencer and moved from her childhood home at Park House to her family's sixteenth-century ancestral home of Althorp.

Diana was born into an aristocratic family of royal Stuart descent.[1] On her mother's side, Diana had Irish, Scottish, English, and American ancestry. Her great-grandmother was the New York heiress Frances Work. On her father's side, she was a descendant of King Charles II of England through four illegitimate sons

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana,_Prin...

Answer 8

I agree with katylew

-SS (-:Smiling Star-:)

Answer 9

The whole system of royal and noble titles & "styles" can be confusing at first, and it may seem like anyone with a title must be royal.  But there is a difference between royalty and nobility. Diana was not a member of the royal family at birth; but she was born into the nobility /aristocracy .

The daughter of a Duke, Marquess or Earl is called "Lady_______"  so Diana was called "Lady" because her father was the 8th Earl Spencer.  Actually when Diana was born, her father had not yet succeeded to the title and he had a lesser title as a Viscount. AViscount's child has the prefix "The Honourable", so she was originally "The Honourable Diana Spencer."  When her father inherited the title and became Earl, she became  "Lady Diana Spencer."

The system of royalty and nobility goes back many centuries. Back in the middle ages,  nobles controlled territories of various sizes.  The nobles  pledged their loyalty and support to the Sovereign (King, or sometimes Queen) who ruled the whole country; and they would fight for him/her and supply knights, footsoldiers and equipment if needed.

People in the nobility often have some ancestry that is linked to royalty.  The Spencer family were descended from Stuart royalty, (former rulers of Britain) through illegitimate children of Charles II and James II.

Another thing that can be confusing is the word "commoner" because by one definition- -which is what I think is the "real" definition-- either you are royalty or you are a "commoner" - - which means even people in the nobility are "commoners". However people when speaking casually often use the word "commoner" to mean "neither royalty nor nobility" .

Answer 10

Because Princess Diana(Lady Diana) father was an Earl, so the daughters become Ladies and sons become Lords.....Anyone that knows British history would know that!!

Answer 11

She was and american.

Answer 12

Her father was an Earl as her brother is now.  Her proper title was Lady Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales.  Princess before the name only goes to those born into royalty like Princess Anne for royal families in countries ruled by a Monarch (King, Queen Emperor, etc).  This also explains why Prince Andrew's ex-wife is Lady Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York while their daughter is Princess Beatrice.  Princess Grace was her proper title as Monaco is ruled by a Prince.  A quick definition: royalty is the direct families of rulers while nobility is the lineage of Dukes, Earls, Counts, Barons, etc.

Answer 13

At the time of Diana’s birth, she was titled as The Honourable Diana Frances Spencer. She was the youngest daughter of Edward John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, later John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer, and his first wife, Frances Spencer, Viscountess Althorp (formerly the Honourable Frances Burke Roche). On the death of her paternal grandfather, Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer in 1975, Diana's father became the 8th Earl Spencer, at which time she became Lady Diana Spencer.

She is not royal by birth, however, she is from an aristocrat family, with pretty close ties to the royal family. Diana was born into an aristocratic family of royal Stuart descent. She was an illegitimate descent of Charles II through an illegitimate son. However, she has no claim to the British throne.

Note: It is incorrect to address the late Diana, Princess of Wales as "Princess Diana", which was a title she never held. She was not a royal princess by birth, and the title "Princess of Wales" was bestowed upon her when she married Prince Charles. Legally speaking, she is "The Princess Charles Philip Arthur George, Princess of Wales and Countess of Chester, Duchess of Cornwall, Duchess of Rothesay, Countess of Carrick, Baroness of Renfrew, Lady of the Isles, Princess of Scotland." In additional, she did enjoy the style of "Her Royal Highness", which was stripped away when she divorced Prince Charles.

Note: Although she never held the title "Princess Diana", the British people decided to name her "The People's Princess" in honor of her passing.

Answer 14

I'm sorry, Princess Diana was not of Royal birth, she only married into Royalty.

the media has it wrong ( as ususal)

Answer 15

No, she was not royal.  She was called Lady Diana Spencer because she was the daughter of Earl Spencer.  He was noble, but not royal.  The nobility are not royalty, they are the next layer down from royalty.

Answer 16

Yes her father was an Earl. Through her dad, Lady Diana Spencer was related to the Stuart line making her royalty and able to marry Charles, Prince of Wales

For the record Rachelle is totally wrong on one point. Only the Princess of Wales that is married to the heir to the British throne may be addressed by Princess (her name) as she is theoretically going to be Queen-Consort whatever her name is--for example we all now Diana was Diana, Princess of Wales, however her sister in law Sarah Ferguson (Fergie) was known as Princess Andrew the Duchess of York and could not be addressed as Princess Sarah