Did Princess Diana Speak to Her Mother at the Time of Her Death?
While the world knows so much about Princess Diana and the royal family, fans don’t know ton about the princess’s parents and her relationship with them.
Lady Diana Spencer was born to John Spencer and Frances Shand Kydd. Before their daughter even married the future king, her mother and father were no strangers to the royals. Here’s more on that, plus Diana’s complicated relationship with her mom and whether the two women were speaking at the time of the princess’s death.
Princess Diana’s parents divorced when she was a child
Princess Diana’s mother was born Frances Roche on Jan. 20, 1936. She came from an aristocratic family as her father was the fourth Baron Fermoy, who was a shooting friend of King George VI. In 1954, when Frances was 18, she married then-30-year-old John Spencer, who later became the 8th Earl Spencer.
The couple went on to have four children but divorced in 1966 when Diana was just 5 years old. Frances reportedly walked out on her family to pursue a relationship with another man named Peter Shand Kydd.
Diana’s brother claimed that his sister would sometimes “wait on the doorstep for [their mother], but she never came.” He added: “Our father was a quiet and constant source of love, but our mother wasn’t cut out for maternity. Not her fault. She couldn’t do it. She was in love with someone else–infatuated, really.”
After a bitter court battle, John Spencer was awarded full custody of the four children.
Did Frances talk to her daughter during the final months of her life?
The Sun noted that Frances and Peter tied the knot and moved to a Scottish island off the coast of Oban. However, their marriage did not last and Peter left Frances for a younger woman.
Princess Diana’s father also remarried. He wed Raine, Countess of Dartmouth in 1976. Diana had a frosty relationship with her for some time and referred to her stepmother as “Acid Raine.” The women eventually were able to move past that and were on good terms before the princess’s death. But the same can’t be said for Diana and her own mother.
She and Frances were able to have a decent relationship after the heartbreak Diana suffered as a child. But that all changed after Diana and Charles separated. The late princess’s former butler, Paul Burrell, claimed the reason was because Frances did not approve of Diana’s relationship with Pakistani heart surgeon Dr. Hasnat Khan.
Diana’s mother later refuted that. She did, however, admit that she and her daughter were not on speaking terms for several months before Diana died on Aug. 31, 1997. According to Frances, she sent letters trying to make amends with her daughter, but they were all sent back unopened.
When did Frances Shand Kydd die?
Diana was still alive when her father died. He was hospitalized with pneumonia and soon after suffered a fatal heart attack in 1992. He was 68 years old.
Frances outlived her daughter by seven years. On June 3, 2004, following a long health battle with Parkinson’s disease and brain cancer, Frances died at her home in Scotland.
She, like Diana’s father, was 68 years old at the time of her death.
