The Earl Spencer | |
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Born | Edward John Spencer 24 January 1924 London, England |
Died | 29 March 1992 Humana Hospital, Wellington, London, England |
(aged 68)
Title | 8th Earl Spencer |
Tenure | 9 June 1975 | – 29 March 1992
Known for | Father of Diana, Princess of Wales |
Predecessor | 7th Earl Spencer |
Successor | 9th Earl Spencer |
Spouse(s) | The Hon. Frances Roche Raine McCorquodale |
Issue | Lady Sarah McCorquodale Jane Fellowes, Baroness Fellowes The Hon. John Spencer Diana, Princess of Wales Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer |
Parents | Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer Lady Cynthia Hamilton |
Edward John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer MVO (24 January 1924 – 29 March 1992), styled Viscount Althorp until 1975, was a British peer and the father of Diana, Princess of Wales.
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Edward Spencer was educated at Eton, the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, and the Royal Agricultural College. A Captain in the Royal Scots Greys, Lord Spencer fought in the Second World War from 1944 to 1945, and was Mentioned in Despatches. From 1947 to 1950, Lord Spencer served as Aide-de-Camp to then-Governor of South Australia, Willoughby Norrie.[1]
Spencer held the offices of County Councillor for Northamptonshire (1952), High Sheriff of Northamptonshire (1959) and Justice of the Peace for Norfolk (1970).[1] He served as Equerry to King George VI (1950–52) and to Queen Elizabeth II (1952–54),[2] and was invested as a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (M.V.O.) in 1954.[1]
On 1 June 1954, Spencer and the Hon. Frances Ruth Roche, the younger daughter of the 4th Baron Fermoy, were married in Westminster Abbey by Percy Herbert, Bishop of Norwich. They had five children:
Lord Edward Spencer and Lady Frances Spencer were divorced in April 1969. Frances Spencer later married Peter Shand Kydd, while he later won a bitter custody battle for Diana and married Raine, Countess of Dartmouth, on 14 July 1976, the former wife of the 9th Earl of Dartmouth, and the daughter and only child of the romantic novelist Barbara Cartland and Alexander McCorquodale.
Spencer died on 29 March 1992 at The Wellington Hospital, London. He had been admitted to the hospital with pneumonia a week earlier, but had reportedly been making a good recovery. He was succeeded as Earl by his son, Charles. By the time of his death, Diana and Charles were in Austria along with their sons, William and Harry. Diana and William had visited Lord Spencer in the hospital one day before departing for Austria.[3]
Ancestors of John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Honorary titles | ||
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Preceded by Sir Gyles Isham, Bt |
High Sheriff of Northamptonshire 1959 |
Succeeded by Evelyn Fanshawe |
Peerage of Great Britain | ||
Preceded by Albert Spencer |
Earl Spencer 9 June 1975 – 29 March 1992 |
Succeeded by Charles Spencer |
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