Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Raine and suffering
PRINCESS DIANA’S ‘WICKED’ STEPMOTHER
WITH her powder puff hair and killer ambition, Raine Spencer was a famous socialite, feisty politician and all-round force of nature.
But when she married Princess Diana’s father, Earl John Spencer, she was not a welcome addition to the family by any stretch of the imagination.
Diana even admitted that she once pushed her “ghastly” stepmother, dubbed Acid Raine, down the stairs in a fit of temper.
This insightful documentary tells the story of Raine and her turbulent relationship with Diana, through archive footage and plenty of interviews with friends and former members of the Spencer household.
Raine, the daughter of romantic novelist Barbara Cartland, was a social climber who became a countess three times.
She was loathed by Diana and her siblings, stealing the attentions of their father and (shock horror) redecorating the Spencer ancestral home. She certainly did attract huge controversy, right up until her death, aged 87, in October last year.
But as the film goes on, you’ll warm to this formidable and fabulous woman, who is spoken of very highly by all who knew her.
You may even feel some pity after hearing that she was swiftly kicked out of the house by Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, as soon as their father died.
After Diana and Prince Charles divorced in August 1996, she made an unlikely U-turn and reached out to Raine for support, with her stepmother becoming one of Diana’s closest confidantes.
“Their relationship blossomed,” says Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell, who is an obligatory talking head in every documentary about the royal family.
Of course, we all know how this story ends, with tragedy and sadness. But it’s also a revelatory tale of two self-made women and their extraordinary lives.