Lady Glenconner Defends Princess Diana's Stepmother Against Earl Spencer's Claims

Lady Anne Glenconner has publicly defended Raine Spencer, the late stepmother of Princess Diana, against disparaging remarks made by Diana's brother, Earl Charles Spencer, in his new book, "Swan Song."

Glenconner, a former lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret, described Raine Spencer as "wonderful" and "generous," particularly in her relationship with the 8th Earl Spencer, John Spencer, following their marriage in 1976. Lady Glenconner noted that Raine Spencer was credited with "saving" John Spencer's life when he was ill and served as a supportive godparent to her own daughter, May.

"I liked her," Glenconner told Hello! magazine. "She was very generous to her [my daughter]. I think from the children's point of view, she probably was difficult, but she was wonderful with Johnnie [Earl Spencer] – she saved his life when he was ill. And then, interestingly, she became great friends with Diana."

Earl Spencer's memoir, "Swan Song," offers a largely unflattering account of Raine Spencer, including the widely reported incident in 1989 where Diana reportedly pushed her down a staircase. According to the Earl's account, the confrontation occurred after Raine Spencer commented on Diana's then-husband, Prince Charles, being married to "someone quite as stupid" as Diana.

Robert Hardman, a royal biographer, noted in "Swan Song" that the "charge sheet against Lord Spencer's late stepmother, Raine, runs on for pages." The book suggests that Raine's marriage to John Spencer and her time at the Spencer family's ancestral home, Althorp House, still "clearly rankles" the Earl.

Charles Spencer claimed in his memoir that Diana learned of her father's marriage to Raine through newspaper reports and criticized Raine for selling off assets from the Althorp estate, suggesting she was "feathering her own nest." He also recalled that he and Diana often avoided Raine during their childhood holidays at Althorp, preferring to be outdoors because Raine had a "total aversion to the countryside and to exercise."

The Spencer siblings reportedly nicknamed Raine Spencer "Acid Raine," and Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, claimed they would sing "Raine, Raine, go away." The book details a heated exchange prior to Earl Spencer's first wedding in 1989, where Diana, angered by Raine's perceived slight against her mother, pushed her stepmother down a flight of stairs.

Raine Spencer met John Spencer, who had recently divorced Diana's mother, Frances Shand Kydd, in 1976. Her arrival into the Spencer family was met with resistance from the children, and sources suggest that during John Spencer's coma in 1978, Raine kept Diana and her siblings away from the hospital. Royal biographer Ingrid Seward commented that "All the Spencer children behaved very badly to Raine; it wasn't just Diana. They were purposely ganging up on her."

Following her move to Althorp, Raine Spencer began redecorating and selling antique furniture, which reportedly further alienated the Spencer children. Raine's biographer, Angela Levine, stated that the children attempted to dissuade their father from supporting Raine, but he was "scared of not supporting Raine because he needed her so much at every level of his life."

Raine Spencer was seated at the back of Westminster Abbey during Diana and Prince Charles' wedding. After John Spencer's death in 1992, she was reportedly asked to leave Althorp, with her belongings removed in bin liners.

However, relations between Diana and Raine improved after John Spencer's death, with Diana expressing gratitude for the care Raine had shown her father. In a surprising move after her divorce from Prince Charles in 1996, Diana invited Raine to Kensington Palace for dinner, signaling a reconciliation.

Diana and Raine remained close in the final year of Diana's life, speaking daily. Raine Spencer died in October 2016 after a battle with cancer.