Lady Glenconner Speaks Up for Diana's Stepmother Against Earl Spencer's Memoir
Lady Anne Glenconner has defended Raine, Countess Spencer, Princess Diana's stepmother, against the portrait given by Diana's brother in his new memoir.
Lady Glenconner, speaking to HELLO! in an interview published on 13 October 2026, offered a warmer account than Charles Spencer, Earl Spencer, gives in Swan Song: Diana, My Sister HELLO!. She knew both families well.
The family link goes back to 1976. In that year John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer, Diana's father, married Raine, then Countess of Dartmouth. She became stepmother to Diana, Charles and their sisters.
Lady Glenconner was a maid of honour — one of the young attendants who carried the Queen's train — at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. She said she liked Countess Spencer. She is godmother to Countess Spencer's daughter Charlotte, and Countess Spencer is godmother to her own daughter May.
She knew both women well. Lady Glenconner credited Countess Spencer with saving Lord Spencer's life when he was seriously ill. She also said Countess Spencer and Diana eventually became great friends, despite their famously difficult early history.
Earl Spencer sees it very differently. In an interview published on 3 October 2026, he said he does not like Countess Spencer Marie Claire. He said he does not think Diana ever liked her either.
He put it bluntly. He said Diana saw their stepmother as "something to be played with". He said Diana used Countess Spencer against their mother.
For anyone following the Spencer story, this is two people who knew the same house remembering it in opposite ways. The dates and marriages are on the record. The feelings are harder to settle.
