Princess Diana received a top royal title when she married Prince Charles in 1981,
but her family had been English aristocrats for centuries — and controversial ones at that.
Sarah Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough, was one of the biggest schemers in the family,
but she actually had her own daughter marry into the Spencer line. So, while not a Spencer
by birth, she still influenced the future generations of Spencers to come. Indeed,
she arranged for her daughter Anne to marry Charles Spencer, who was to become the 3rd
Earl of Sunderland. The Duchess was also a childhood friend of Queen Anne and became one
of her inner circle when she took the throne. She used her position to wield political influence on
the queen's policies and to better the lives of her family members, including her son-in-law.
The Duchess was known for being a member of the liberal Whig Party, and she sought to line the
queen's cabinet with those who shared her views. When the Duchess found her position with the queen
threatened by a rival named Abigail, she stopped at nothing to ruin the woman's reputation. The
battle for the queen's favor was so dramatic that it later inspired the 2018 film The Favourite.
Queen Anne, who later frequently clashed with the Duchess on political matters,
finally had enough of Sarah and ordered her to leave her palace apartment in 1711. Despite this
loss of royal standing, the Duchess still had a tremendous fortune to fall back on.
There's another sensational duchess in the Spencer family tree. Born in 1757, Georgiana Cavendish was
the daughter of John Spencer, the 1st Earl Spencer. While she was still in her teens,
she wed William, Duke of Devonshire. She caused quite a stir and was known for wearing elaborate
fashions. Georgiana was also known for living a hedonistic life that was shocking for the time,
something that she wrote about in the thinly veiled 1778 novel The Sylph.
Her wild lifestyle ended up being portrayed on the big screen in the 2008 drama The Duchess.
"I have heard a rumor."
"...Yes?"
The Duchess proved to be bold in other ways, too. Despite the fact she couldn't vote herself,
she later became an outspoken champion of the Whig Party. She was often mocked
in the press for her activism, and one infamous cartoon alleged that she traded
kisses for votes. In her personal life, the Duchess struggled with a gambling addiction.
Princess Diana grew up in the midst of a family scandal. In the beginning,
her parents' marriage seemed like a fairy tale. Her father, John Spencer, had served in the Royal
Scots Greys during World War II and was hailed as a hero upon his return. He was much older
than his lovely bride, Frances Ruth Roche, who was only 17 years old when the pair got engaged.
The couple had five children together — four of whom lived to adulthood — and settled at one
of her family's rural properties. But Frances wasn't a fan of the slow pace of country life,
and she began escaping to London to enjoy a more stimulating time. In the 1960s,
she had an affair with Peter Shand Kydd, heir to a wallpaper fortune. Frances decided she wanted to
be with Shand Kydd, and she and her husband then engaged in one of the ugliest custody battles of
the time. Frances' own mother testified against her, and the court eventually awarded custody
to John. Frances quickly married Shand Kydd, and the pair spent many years in Scotland in a
self-imposed exile. After that, Princess Diana's relationship with her mother remained strained.
According to an Associated Press report, the mother and daughter hadn't spoken in four months
before Princess Diana's death, and the princess had returned her mother's letters unopened.
At one time, it seemed possible that the Spencers were going to have a Princess Sarah instead of a
Princess Diana. Diana's oldest sibling, Lady Sarah McCorquodale may officially be a lady,
but she also had a wild streak. Notably, she was kicked out of boarding school and once rode
a horse into her grandmother's house. Sarah also had a great admirer in Princess Diana,
something she used to her advantage growing up. Diana told biographer Andrew Morton,
"I idolized my eldest sister, and I used to do all her washing when she came back
from school. I packed her suitcase, ran her bath, made her bed — the whole lot."
Sarah first met Prince Charles at Royal Ascot,
and the pair dated for a short time. But the unusually candid Spencer soon fell
afoul of the prince by talking about their relationship to the press. In one instance,
she claimed that she had thousands of boyfriends before Prince Charles. Sarah also said,
"I'm not in love with him. And I wouldn't marry
anyone I didn't love whether he were the dustman or the King of England."
Her candid outbursts put an end to her relationship with Prince Charles,
but she did introduce her little sister to the heir to the throne in 1977. And in 1980,
Prince Charles began dating Sarah's sister Diana with his ex's blessing.
"And I suppose in love?"
"Of course."
"Whatever in love means."
Princess Diana's brother, Charles, 9th Earl Spencer, has been known to engage in some
seriously bad behavior. According to Tatler, he gave his much-despised stepmother, Raine Spencer,
the boot from the family estate after the death of his father in 1992. Years later, his first
marriage to model Victoria Lockwood ended in 1997 after news of his affairs made the press, and the
number of his mistresses may have been as high as 12. His second marriage to Caroline Freud didn't
fare much better, and the pair broke up over rumors of boredom and infidelity on Charles' part.
While he may have had some rocky relationships, Charles has remained a steadfast supporter of
his sister. He gave the eulogy at her funeral, railing against how badly the press treated her.
"I don't think she ever understood why
her genuinely good intentions were sneered at by the media."
Even after her death, he saw to it that she was laid to rest at Althorp,
the Spencer family estate, for better security and privacy.