Frances Shand Kydd

The Honourable Frances Ruth Roche
Born	20 January 1936(1936-01-20) Park House, Sandringham, Norfolk, England, UK
Died	3 June 2004(2004-06-03) (aged 68) Seil, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK
Nationality	British
Title	The Honourable Frances Ruth Roche (from birth, 20 January 1936 to 1 June 1954) Viscountess Althorp (from 1 June 1954 to 15 April 1969) Frances, Viscountess Althorp (from 15 April 1969 to 2 May 1969) The Honourable Mrs. Shand Kydd (from 2 May 1969 to her death, 3 June 2004)
Spouse	John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer (m. 1954, div. 1969) Peter Shand Kydd (m. 1969, div. 1990)
Parents	Edmund Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy Ruth Roche, Baroness Fermoy

Frances Ruth Shand Kydd (née Roche, formerly Viscountess Althorp) (20 January 1936 – 3 June 2004) was the first wife of John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer and the mother of Diana, Princess of Wales. After two failed marriages and the deaths of two children, she devoted her later years to Roman Catholic charity work.

Early life

Frances Ruth Roche was born in Park House, on the royal estate at Sandringham, Norfolk. Her father was Edmund Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy, a friend of King George VI and the elder son of the American heiress Frances Work and her first husband, the 3rd Baron Fermoy. Her mother Ruth, Lady Fermoy DCVO was a confidante and lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother).

Marriage to John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer

On 1 June 1954, aged 18, Roche married John Spencer, Viscount Althorp (later the 8th Earl Spencer) at Westminster Abbey. She was then known as Viscountess Althorp (the name is pronounced Altrup).

The Althorps had five children:

• Lady Elizabeth Sarah Lavinia Spencer (19 March 1955), who married Neil Edmund McCorquodale, a nephew of Raine, Countess Spencer
• Lady Cynthia Jane Spencer (11 February 1957), who married Sir Robert Fellowes.
• The Honourable John Spencer, who died within 10 hours of his birth on 12 January 1960
• Lady Diana Frances Spencer later Diana, Princess of Wales (1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales
• Charles Edward Maurice Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer (20 May 1964), who married Victoria Lockwood, then Caroline Freud (néé Hutton) (the latter formerly wife of Matthew Freud)

The British media made comparisons between Lady Althorp's and Diana's lives, because both were inexperienced young women who were thrust into the spotlight by marriage to much older men in higher stations. As with the marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales, the marriage between Lord and Lady Althorp was not a happy one. In 1967, Lady Althorp left to be with Peter Shand Kydd, an heir to a wallpaper fortune, whom she had met the year before. Subsequently, she was named "the other woman" in Janet Shand Kydd's divorce action against her husband. The Althorps were divorced in April 1969, and Lady Althorp was now known as Frances, Viscountess Althorp.

Personal life after divorce

In 1976, Lord Althorp married Raine, Countess of Dartmouth, the daughter of novelist Barbara Cartland. (Deeply unpopular with her stepchildren, she was nicknamed "Acid Raine".) He eventually won a bitter custody battle over the children.

Lady Althorp married Peter Shand Kydd on 2 May 1969 and was then known as The Honourable Mrs Shand Kydd. They lived on the remote Scottish island of Seil but was forced into public view following the marriage of Diana to the Prince of Wales in 1981. Peter and Frances Shand Kydd separated in June 1988 after he left her for a younger woman.^{[citation needed]} They were later divorced. She blamed the pressure of media attention for the breakdown of the marriage. Peter Shand Kydd died in 2006.

In 1996, Frances Shand Kydd was banned from driving after being convicted of drunk-driving, but denied she had a problem with alcohol. She and Diana quarrelled in May 1997 after she told Hello! magazine that Diana was happy to lose her title of "Her Royal Highness" following her divorce from the Prince of Wales. They were reportedly not on speaking terms at the time of Diana's death.

Diana's death

Main article: Death of Diana, Princess of Wales

In the wake of Diana's death, she made a point of visiting the family of Henri Paul, the driver of the Mercedes which Diana and her companion Dodi Fayed were in when it crashed in a Paris tunnel, killing all three of them. In her eulogy, she stated, "Strange though it may seem, my daughter's funeral was probably the proudest day of my life. Proud of her, proud of my elder daughters who were rock steady in their readings, and my only son who gave the ultimate tribute of brotherly love for her."^{[citation needed]}

Aftermath

In 2002, she testified at the trial of Diana's former butler Paul Burrell, where she was forced to admit that she and Diana had been estranged for several months before Diana's death. She spent her later years in solitude on Seil. She converted to Roman Catholicism in 1994 and devoted herself to Catholic Charities.^{[citation needed]}

Death

She died on 3 June 2004 following a long illness that included Parkinson's disease and brain cancer, aged 68.

Funeral

Her funeral at the Roman Catholic cathedral in Oban on 10 June was attended by many of her children and grandchildren, including Princes William (who gave a reading) and Harry. Their father, her former son-in-law, Prince Charles, did not attend because he was en route to another funeral—going to Washington to lead the British delegation at the state funeral of former US President Ronald Reagan the following day.

Titles from birth to death

• The Honourable Frances Roche (20 January 1936 – 1 June 1954)
• Viscountess Althorp (1 June 1954 – 15 April 1969)
• Frances, Viscountess Althorp (15 April 1969 – 2 May 1969)
• The Honourable Mrs. Shand Kydd (2 May 1969 – 3 June 2004)

See also

• Diana, Princess of Wales, Frances Shand Kydd's daughter
• Maxine Riddington, author of the biography Frances

External links

• Althorp House
• Isle of Seil
• The biography of Frances Shand Kydd
• Frances Shand Kydd at Find a Grave