Countess dies at home, at age of 87
Colourful stepmother of Diana dies at age of 87
She was one of the most famous faces of the 1980s, thrust into the spotlight when her stepdaughter Lady Diana Spencer married Prince Charles.
Countess Raine Spencer died aged 87 at her home in Mayfair, London, her family said. Her son William Legge, the Earl of Dartmouth confirmed the news.
SHE WAS one of the most famous faces of the 1980s, thrust into the spotlight when her stepdaughter Lady Diana Spencer married Prince Charles.
Famed for her immaculate dress sense, bouffant hair, pearls and clipped accent, Countess Raine Spencer led a colourful and sometimes controversial life.
She died aged 87 at her home in Mayfair, London, her family said.
Her son William Legge, the Earl of Dartmouth and a Ukip MEP, confirmed.
The news was followed by tributes from Harrods, the famousLondon store. The Countess had been working as a director for both Harrods International and Harrods Estates for more than 10 years, and was akin to a roving ambassador.
Michael Ward, managing director of Harrods, said: “Everyone at Harrods was saddened to hear of the passing of Countess Spencer this morning.
“She was part of the Harrods team for many years and we extend our condolences to her family.”
In a short statement the family said: “Raine, Countess Spencer, died peacefully at her home in London on 21st October, 2016, after a short illness.”
She was the daughter of romance novelist Dame Barbara Cartland.
In her early life, she served as a Westminster city councillor from 1954 to 1965 and her first marriage was to the Earl of Dartmouth and lasted from 1948 to 1976.
Following the death of Earl Spencer, her second husband, she married Count Jean-Francois de Chambrun in 1993, but the marriage only lasted three years.
When she married Earl Spencer and moved into the ancestral home at Althorp, she became stepmother to six-year-old Diana and three-year-old Charles, who now holds his father’s title.
Speaking at the inquest about press intrusion into Diana’s life, she said: “I suppose this happens with pop stars and celebrities and people who call themselves celebrities nowadays.” Countess Spencer and Diana were pictured talking in June 1997, just two months before the death of the Princess of Wales, when the countess was invited to a private viewing of Diana’s dresses that were being auctioned by Christie’s.
Countess Spencer grew up in the rarefied world of upper class England.
At various points in her life she was known as Raine McCorquodale, the Honourable Mrs Gerald Legge, Viscountess Lewisham, the Countess of Dartmouth, Countess Spencer, the Dowager Countess Spencer and Countess Jean-Franois de Chambrun.
The Countess had four children with her first husband Gerald Legge, 9th Earl of Dartmouth, whom she married in 1947.
In the early 1970s she met Diana’s father and the Countess married him in 1976, a year after he became Earl Spencer, and after she had separated from her first husband.
Everyone was saddened to hear of the passing of Countess Spencer Michael Ward of Harrods