Raine, Countess Spencer

More hair.

MARRRRRRRRRRYYYYYY!

Love it!

Biggest hair in the Empire

Does she have an coloured broaches?

Magnificent.

Having a spot of tea.

Raine on video. Oh that accent.

From her Wikipedia entry:

When Lord Spencer died on 29 March 1992, the dowager Countess and her stepchildren had a poor relationship. Just 2 days later, on 31 March 1992, her stepson - the new Earl Spencer - threw Raine out of the manor house on Althorpe. Raine was not allowed to take a single item unless she could prove that the item belonged to her and all of her staff were fired without notice. Princess Diana stood guard in person in the Spencer bedroom and watched as maid Pauline Shaw put the Countess's extensive clothing in four Louis Vuiton suitcases. When Princess Diana discovered the embossed capital letter "S" on the suitcases, she decided that these suitcases also belonged to the Spencers. At Diana's instruction, the maid hastily unpacked the multi-piece designer wardrobe and instead stowed it in black garbage bags. The young earl kicked all of the sacks down the stairs.

Wonder what she did to her step-children to make them hate her so much

Raine received all of her hair styling tips from her mother, Dame Barbara Cartland.

Raine's hair was SMALLER in youth.

Raine's mother Barbara didn't age well.

There are truly NO WORDS to describe this Dame.

That's an awesome story at R9; if that showed up on "The Crown", you'd think it was incredibly contrived, but it's actually true.

There's a wellspring of crazy & malevolence in that family; Harry came by it honestly....

Daughter of bodice-ripper author Barbara Cartland. Not really our type.

Sometimes a good 'do is all you need to exert your authority.

Diana and Raine became good friends towards the end of Diana's life.

[ITALIC] Diana’s feelings about her stepmother shifted. Toward the end of Diana’s life, she and Raine became closer, speaking to one another often as Raine became something of a support for Diana. This rapid closeness came in part, due to Diana’s worsening relationship with her own mother, Frances, as well as her growing strain with the royal family. “When Diana started finding her own mother impossible to deal with, she became extremely friendly with Raine,” Seward says. “They spoke every morning and lunched together once a week or once a fortnight. They were very, very close and Diana used to lean on Raine’s shoulder and tell her all her problems, of which there were many. So their relationship completely turned around. It was quite a dramatic turnaround.” [/ITALIC]

R15 just had to get that slight in there. Couldn’t help Themselves.. It’s a sickening compulsion and obsession. unhinged even.

This is a fun, lighthearted thread. Don’t ruin it.

Diana hated everybody, didn't she?

It appears from the above stories about Countess Spencer's relationship with Diana that Raine stormed out but was later the hair to the throne.

How does that hair sleep at night?

You could hide a family of migrants in her hair.

Positively Trumpian!

[Quote] They were very, very close and Diana used to lean on Raine’s shoulder and tell her all her problems,

After ask that drama? Why didn't Diana lean on her brother if she needed a shoulder to cry on?

R25 - Diana asked her brother if she could move to a house on the Althorp estate for some peace from the press and he declined because he was afraid of the possible publicity it would cause. The bastard wasn't even living in England at the time. He was in South Africa.

^What an asshole. And an ass.

White equivalent of a huge afro - both are ridiculous-looking.

She does look like an amalgamation of every evil stepmother Disney has ever drawn.

LOL, perfect, R29

[R25] - Diana asked her brother if she could move to a house on the Althorp estate for some peace from the press and he declined because he was afraid of the possible publicity it would cause. The bastard wasn't even living in England at the time. He was in South Africa.

I kind of vaguely remember from the time that her brother also traded off his association with the royal family and had an embarrassing personal life (before it was fashionable to have an embarrassing personal life), much to the annoyance of Diana.

But I am in awe of Raine's hair; she probably had a nice head of hair anyway, but I can't imagine the amount of product required to produce that poof.

Diana and her sisters referred to their stepmother as "Acid Raine".

[Quote] her brother also traded off his association with the royal family

How does one do something like that? What does it even mean?

r33 See Harry and Meghan's new life in LA.

R33 It means he used the fact that his sister was Princess of Wales as a way of gaining access to people and opportunities that would make him a lot of money and give him attention that he would not have had if Diana had married a construction worker.

Hahahaha! So she's going for the Thatcher times 10. You can learn so much about someone's character simply by looking at their hair.

Why did Diana ask? Why didn't she call her brother up and say, "I'm moving to Althorp for awhile." Who was going to stop her?

[quote] They were very, very close and Diana used to lean on Raine’s shoulder and tell her all her problems

Diana excelled at having friendships when they could benefit her in some way. Once she got what she needed, she'd drop them, often picking them up again when they could again be useful. Diana probably befriended her step-mother because she knew it would send her mother into a fury. At no time did Diana ever have any fond feelings towards Raine. Raine was merely a useful tool to irritate Diana's mother.

How do you know that, R39?

Raine's accent is pure "Rank Charm School 1948."

Thatcher adopted it, as well.

Diana warming to Raine as the rela. w her own mother soured. Classic BPD.

The Spencer kids also called Raine "Countess Come Dancing" - lols

The Countess left her fur coats to her daughter Charlotte who lives in London. Several years ago, we had a fashion show and I was a model. The Lady had some really nice coats...

Diana PUSHED Raine (her step-mother) down a flight of stairs

Then after Diana father died, Diana put Raine's clothes all in garbage bags and threw them out the window.

R38, it was his house, not hers. Would you let a sibling simply inform you they were moving into your home, regardless of whether you were there or not?

r45 Whats was with that that women and throwing people down stairs.

Who's her stylist?

[quote]Would you let a sibling simply inform you they were moving into your home, regardless of whether you were there or not?

It wasn't his actual house, it was a cottage on the grounds. And it was their family's estate, not something he bought with his own money.

And if she were married to the next King of England, and I was trading on that relationship, I probably wouldn't kick up a big fuss about it as long as she didn't burn the place down.

No daughter of Barbara Cartland can be in her right mind (or hair).

It wasn't his actual house, it was a cottage on the grounds. And it was their family's estate, not something he bought with his own money.

If I recall from Diana lore, isn't it true that at that point (when she wanted to move back to Althorp) everyone was exhausted by her crazy antics & her brother just didn't want to deal with her? I could be wrong, but I kind of remembered that people speculated that was the reason she took up with Dodi - someone clearly below her - because he & his rich father were a port in a storm when everyone else was fed up with her.

I think he didn't want to be bothered by the press that constantly surrounded her.

Diana STABBED the clothes and it turned out Raine was still in them so Diana threw her down the stairs (the back stairs, southwest corner of main house) and then went to the front stairs and threw herself down them and then called Charles to say she aborted his baby in a fall and it was a beautiful little male foal.

Then Diana realized Raine was wonderful so she leaned on her until Raine's back snapped in three places. Diana fled to the arms of an Egyptian who inseminated her again after drugging her in a pyramid.

And then she died.

[quote] Diana threw her down the stairs

Then Diana walked down the stairs and stepped OVER Raine acting like nothing was wrong

True story and detailed in every Diana book.

Diana went to Raine's house and kicked her dog.

Full, Fluffed and Fabulous

A Britfro.

Thinking it was a wig, Diana shit in her hair.

Diana and her siblings nicknamed their step-mother "Acid Raine"....

Uh, I guess some of you flunked "Primogeniture 101".

Diana's awful brother inherited the Earldom and the estate from his father which include EVERYTHING on the estate. Diana had no legal right to reside in that cottage without permission from her brother. She might be a Spencer and it was the Spencer estate but that doesn't mean she has any rights to any of it unless something was specified in her father's will.

R60

Exactly!

Going back hundreds of years everyone knows or should know lay of the land; eldest son (or whoever is heir) cops the lot. Daughters (especially unmarried) faced being turfed out and even banned from returning to family estates without said heirs consent. It was his property to do with as he wished. Same was true for widows, dowagers, grandmothers, aunts, etc...

Only protection anyone had, especially females was by some legal device arrangements were made for them to live on or in estate (or some other family held property) for their life. Earl Grantham's mother the dowager lived quite well in that dower house not because he wished it, but dowager had right to do so since it was settled upon her during previous earl's lifetime.

Anyone who has read "Pride and Prejudice" would also know a plight familiar to many daughters of nobility where a peer failed to produce a male heir. The estate would pass to a distance male cousin who could then legally turf all of them out as he pleased. Their only hope was for one of the daughters to marry their cousin and thus she could remain in her childhood home, and perhaps prevail upon her husband to grant same for sisters and other female relatives.

Much of this changed with ending of fee entail so estates could be broken up instead of passed wholly intact from male heir to male heir. Entail for Brideshead ended with Lord Marchmain, and since laws now were changed he couldn't create another. The estate was fully his to dispose of as pleased and his heir Brideshead wouldn't get much. Instead Lord Marchmain left a bulk of his estate to his daughters Julia and Cordelia, with former copping most of it including the family seat.

Using another bit of fiction, Downton Abbey followed sort of same plot. The earl had no male heirs and thus Lady Mary and her sisters could be evicted by Mr. Crawley a distant cousin who would inherit. Lady Mary's instant and violent dislike for her cousin was due in part to these facts. She wasn't going to go down the "Pride and Prejudice" route easily; marrying her cousin to keep a roof over her head and perhaps sisters as well.

One thing always to keep in mind about Great Britain when it comes to royalty and nobility; historically and for most part still is a man's world. There have been some changes, but still that is how things go as current Earl Spencer proved by denying his sister a bolt hole.

Diana was the future Queen of England. Nobody was going to turf her off of anything.

I'm assuming people meant she could have just turned up and dared her brother to cause a scene and throw her out. No one was expecting her to take him to court and claim the Earldom for feminism.

R62

Correction; future queen *consort* of England....

While they are highest ladies of land and otherwise have some powers; queen consorts derive much of that from association to main power; the king.

George V was very indulgent of Queen Mary, and thus no one dared cross her for fear of getting on bad side of HM. OTOH Diana (and she not divorced) wouldn't be queen for decades (Duke of Cornwall is still waiting to inherit these many years after Diana's death). So there isn't much even the Queen (where she of a mind to), or anyone else could do to those that did something to Diana.

Keep in mind world of royalty and their relation to nobility has changed dramatically over past hundred or so years; certainly since Victoria's time.

Back in day nobles depended very much upon a sovereigns pleasure for court appointments, lands and other goodies a monarch could dole out. Going back further a monarch like Elizabeth I, Henry VIII and so forth could have a noble sent to the tower, tortured, executed and his lands taken by the crown. Yes, there were laws but still....

Today many nobles have independent fortunes with some actually (gasp) working or otherwise involved in activity once deemed beneath a noble's status. As it relates to the Spencer both past and current earl have always made much noise that they have more English royal blood in their veins than the Germans currently occupying throne.

This is MY fucking thread, you motherfuckers. Leave Ditzy Diana out of it. It's about RAINE, RAINE, RAINE! Got it?

We had socialite Judy Peabody and her gay husband, Sam.

Why, after the OP first posted that Diana and her siblings referred to their stepmother as "Acid Raine," do people continue to keep posting this as if it were news?

How can people not bother to even read the original post when responding to a thread?

Raine was definitely of the Wash & Set generation. Most likely she had her hair done on Tuesdays and Fridays.. Women of that time never washed it themselves. The amount of Aqua Net in that thing probably caused the hole in the ozone.

Or was it Dippity Do?

Diana and her brother Charles hated her, but Diana eventually grew to have a polite relationship with her as she saw Raine seemed to truly care for the Earl.

I have always been shocked that she was a romance novelists daughter. The (step)mother of the future Queen! Seemed to be so common for aristocracy.

[quote]I have always been shocked that she was a romance novelists daughter. The (step)mother of the future Queen! Seemed to be so common for aristocracy.

And now, the mother of the future Queen is a stewardess. Maybe that gayboy son of theirs will marry a Puerto Rican go-go dancer he met at Heaven.

Charles and Diana hated her for several reasons: they were very young when their mother left, and they saw Raine as a cold and inadequate substitute. (The other two girls were old enough that they didn't feel their mother's absence as keenly.) And they loved their father (who was by all accounts a nice man), but they also knew he was responsible for their mother's absence 9she left because of the unbearable pressure he put on her to have a son to carry on his name).

Plus, Raine was a huge social climber who was not born aristocratic, and they saw through that immediately, as born aristocrats always do.

Finally, she made Johnnie Spencer spend a fortune (and thus a huge part of their expected inheritance--Diana did not know then she was to marry the Prince of Wales) on refurbishing Althorp, and they saw right away how hideous it was and knew Charles would have to re-do it (spending even more of the family fortune) the moment Johnnie died.

Raine was pretty stupid as gold-diggers go--she did not foresee when she married Johnnie that she would of course outlive him, and that she needed to make his children (especially Charles) like her or she would be turned out of Althorp. All she focused on was making him happy. That can work for a gold-digger like Pamela Harriman, who married exceptionally wealthy men without titles (and who enjoyed being an utter bitch to her stepchildren); but when you marry an elderly peer as his second wife, the money and the house will almost always be entailed upon the heir, not you. When Johnnie died she had to start all over again (at a fairly advanced age) with another aristocrat. It's amazing she pulled it off.

Oooo, that hair looks so soft and fluffy... Wanna roll around in it... make a nest and sleep.

Uh, I guess some of you flunked "Primogeniture 101".

I did indeed & you'll never believe how badly I scored on "Royal Tiaras"

Her hair is the perfect example of Helmut Hair it probably doesn't get messed up when she sleeps.

Diana may have relented in her attitude towards Raine over the years, but, the story about her & Raine being bosom buddies sounds like a pile of horse shit, (This story was spread by Raine, after Diana's death).

Now THAT is how a hairdo should be warn!

Ann fell once and broke her hair.

Did you know they called her Acid Raine?

I'm thinking Imelda Marco, Nancy Kissinger

Didn't they get headaches from all that hair being piled on their head?

Wouldn't want to sit behind her at a West End show.

She must have had Aqua Net imported by the crate load. British hairspray is shit and clearly she was using something heavy duty.

[quote]She must have had Aqua Net imported by the crate load. British hairspray is shit and clearly she was using something heavy duty.

Sheer chutzpah kept that hair up. You don't go from daughter of bodice-ripper author to Countess without a bit of sheer chutzpah.

I hear Diana and her brother used to call her "Acid Raine".

Also "Raine the Dumb Fucking Bitch Cunt Whore Down the Hall".

R85 - "Sheer Chutzpah. When regular strength Chutzpah won't do. Sold now at Shrek's and other fine Gotham City department stores."

My grandmother never fussed much with her hair, EXCEPT on Sunday. Going to church meant she had to get in front of a mirror with the largest can of Aqua Net I've ever seen. When granny got in front of that mirror, you knew to stand far away because the spray was going to fly. She walked around all Sunday in a cloud of Aqua Net.

One time we were eating in Shoney's and someone in the booth behind my grandmother lit a cigarette. My uncle told her, "You better lean forward or this place is going to blow sky high."

[quote] Her hair is the perfect example of Helmut Hair

Ach, du [italic]lieber.[/italic]

I wonder how they got her hair to fit in the casket when she died.

The hair!! How much backcombing and hairspray does it take to get that effect? I could have given her some of mine. ;) I'm loving the camp-o-rama Instagram account. :)

Thrice a countess.

"In 1947, 18-year-old Raine McCorquodale was launched as a debutante into London high society. She had a successful season, not only being named "Deb of the Year," but becoming engaged to be married to the heir to an earldom, the Hon. Gerald Humphry Legge.She and Legge married on 21 July 1948. He succeeded to the courtesy title Viscount Lewisham in 1958 and became the 9th Earl of Dartmouth in 1962. The couple had four children:"

Yes, but I had more shoes than in that shoppe where you worked; Harrods wasn't it?

Yes dear, and we both married war criminals.

Afroginge

Comtesse de Chambrun

Umm Kulthum

Her own children seemed to like her back in the day.

I'm always so curious as to what Diana's mother was like. Why was Diana so angry at her in the last years of her life? She seemsd by all accounts an extremely nice woman, even though she withdrew to an isolated spot after her second marriage failed.

"Prince Philip is reputed to have remarked: “If you want to get anything organised, send for Raine.”"

[quote]I'm always so curious as to what Diana's mother was like. Why was Diana so angry at her in the last years of her life? She seemsd by all accounts an extremely nice woman, even though she withdrew to an isolated spot after her second marriage failed.

The dynamics in that family were always a mess. Diana's grandmother testified against her own daughter in the divorce, testifying that the children should live with Diana's father. Her testimony had weight because she was a Lady-in-Waiting to the Queen Mother.

I think Diana's mother finally just didn't give a shit. Diana was exhausting with her insecurity and all her little dramas and running to astrologers. She probably just told Diana to go away.

[quote] Her testimony had weight because she was a Lady-in-Waiting to the Queen Mother.

That was hardly the point. The court's main concern was the welfare of the children. The children's grandmother had her say; she also spoke as Frances' mother.

When she married Spencer: "Fashionable opinion was that Raine had “traded up” and had married not the man, but Althorp, the Spencer family seat in Northamptonshire. "

"They accused both her and her father of selling off family treasures and estate cottages to pay for the redecoration of Althorp, and “Raine, Raine, go away!” became the family mantra. "

"An objective friend who watched her progress said: “She never took any prisoners, and never took no for an answer. She would have made a first-rate chairman of the rail network, and, like Mussolini, would have made the trains run on time.”"

What am I, chopped liver? The colonies have royalty, too.

Of all her titles she liked Lewisham best because it was 'on the buses.'

Raine was highly criticized for the makeover she gave Althorp in the 1980s. Among other things, she sold off a lot quality antiques and replaced them with cheap furnishings that made the place look like a stuffy British hotel lobby from the 1940s. Some of her work has been undone but not all.

R106 from an eye-witness, quoted in The Guardian linked above: "Viscount Althorp, the present Earl Spencer, said the decor resembled “the wedding cake vulgarity of a five-star hotel in Monaco”."

[quote] I'm always so curious as to what Diana's mother was like. Why was Diana so angry at her in the last years of her life? She seemsd by all accounts an extremely nice woman, even though she withdrew to an isolated spot after her second marriage failed.

It was said they fell out because Frances was anti-Muslim and couldn't tolerate her daughter's love affair with one. This was a twist on the truth, apparently. Other than Diana, no other sources have been identified that indicate Frances was anti-Muslim. Frances was fed up with the notoriety of parade of Diana's love affairs, one minute flaunting them and the next begging for privacy. It had nothing to do with who the men were, but that each fixation she had brought Diana more and more negative publicity. Frances' greatest concern was how it was affecting William and Harry. Diana took this as disloyalty and to deflect from her mother's real objections (Diana's conduct), Diana told people that her mother was a racist and a bigot. I'm not saying Frances wasn't, I'm just saying there had never been any suggestion of it before Diana started spreading the story to discredit the real reason for the falling out with her mother.

[quote]That was hardly the point. The court's main concern was the welfare of the children.

Yes, but would the court have given as much weight to what she said if she were a pub landlady?

[quote]I'm not saying Frances wasn't, I'm just saying there had never been any suggestion of it before Diana started spreading the story to discredit the real reason for the falling out with her mother.

Plus, everyone knew how grasping the al-Fayed family was to become British citizens. I'm sure Frances had their number early on, Muslim or not.

Pub landladies can make excellent witnesses, just as ladies-in-waiting can be terrible in the witness box. The issue as far as a witness is concerned is credibility, not the job they do.

How the Fayeds failed to become British citizens beats me when the government is giving passports out to every Tahir, Darshud and Hamad on demand.

Raine's tastes were questionable and the results often vulgar. The fact is after she married Spencer, she realised the earldom was property rich, but cash poor. She began to sell off things to raise money, not only for her redecorating, but for general upkeep of the estate. It made fiscal sense to sell things that would get the most money.

Someone mentioned above what a nice man Johnny Spencer was. In later years, yes, but that wasn't always so. He was almost as much of a miserable fucker as his father was. Moody and with a violent temper. Many said he only mellowed once Raine entered the picture. She had many faults, but at least she did have a positive effect on Spencer's temperament.

Diana and her brother Charles were terribly scarred by her parents' divorce. Frances didn't think she'd lose them. When she left her husband, she assumed she'd take the younger children with her, but her husband was an Earl and his kind controlled the courts. Johnny was flabbergasted that Frances left at all. He'd known about the affair, of course, but in their circles you might fuck around on your titled husband (once you gave him the heir), but you didn't leave.

She was of the last generation of British aristocratic women who were supposed to just put up with whatever treatment their husband meted out, and she wouldn't. What must have really rankled was having to endure 6 pregnancies in 9 years (including a miscarriage and a baby who lived only a few hours), so Johnny could have his heir. He even made her undergo humiliating medical exams to try to find out why she only gave birth to girls.

Yeah, Johnny wasn't a nice guy. None of his type were.

[quote] her husband was an Earl and his kind controlled the courts.

Lol, they weren't in Ruritania!

Styled by a proud Trump U grad.

A slightly younger pic of her. I'm not quite sure what one would call this hair style.

R117 that's what you look like when you have just given birth, if you are Raine.

Didn't Diana's mother take off with a South American polo player when Diana was only 6 years old? Sure, Diana was in boarding school by then, but that had to have screwed her up good. I was always surprized that the BRF and the rest of the world was so shocked that she turned out to be a nut. Of course she would have been scarred from losing her mother like that.

No that was Furgiz' mom.

Diana might be on record saying it, she was a blabbermouth who didn’t hold back if it meant she would get attention.

Raine’s third husband, married after a whirlwind courtship. The marriage only lasted a couple years. He looks at least ten years younger.

Diana’s mother didn’t get custody because she was a bolter. Same with Fergie’s mother.

R117: in my country it is called "a magpie's nest under renovation".

Diana's mother was absolutely not a bolter. A bolter leaves her spouse suddenly with no preparation.

She stayed with Johnnie Spencer for fourteen years and got pregnant nine times with him. She had been having an affair with Peter Shand Kydd for a year and he had known all about it when she left him. And she left for reasons Johnnie Spencer knew very well: he was verbally abusive to her about the long time it took her to produce a male heir who lived longer than a day, and he treated her badly.

You'd have to be pretty misogynistic to consider her "a bolter."

R122 WHET the comte de Chambrun?

When Diana got engaged, she specified that neither Raine nor Barbara Cartland were to attend the wedding. Barbara was not even to receive an invitation and Raine would be expected to not attend at the last moment due to "illness". Buckingham Palace was relieved that Cartland would not be invited, but told Diana that it would not be appropriate to ban her step-mother from the wedding in case it became common knowledge and would reflect badly. Diana agreed that Raine could be there. The story came from Barbara herself who later complained to Lord Mountbatten's daughters about it.

I don’t know r126, I couldn’t find anything more about him on google

r54 That is shocking behaviour by Diana. Incredibly malicious and hateful. I liked Diana but the making of her as some sort of saint or Queen of the victims is clearly even more of a nonsense when that is taken into account.

Raine and Diana's mother were somewhat surprised and irritated that after Diana and Charles were married, they were told they could not address Charles by his name and had to continue using "Your Royal Highness" and "Sir" at all times.

It's weird that Diana was by her own account addicted to Barbara Cartland's novels, but then didn't want her at the wedding.

I wonder what Cartland thought Lord Mountbatten's daughters were going to do about it when she complained to them. It's not like they had any sort of veto power over the bride.

Cartland was such a freakshow that it's no wonder the Windsors didn't want her at the wedding.

Clive James described Barbara’s mascara technique as looking like two crows which had flown into the White Cliffs of Dover.

werq missy cuntess!

[quote] Raine and Diana's mother were somewhat surprised and irritated that after Diana and Charles were married, they were told they could not address Charles by his name and had to continue using "Your Royal Highness" and "Sir" at all times.

That;'s very typical of Charles. When he was dating before he married Diana he insised all of his girlfriends call him "Your Royal Highness" and "Sir."

I don't think it's that surprising that Diana let him insist on this formality with Raine, since she hated her stepmother so much, but it is weird she didn't insist that her mother could call him by his first name. She probably wanted to punish her mother for leaving her as a child.

The weird thing is that even though Diana was in some ways so informal with people and treated people like equals, part of her was incredibly snobby. The story goes that when her grandfather, the 7th Earl of Spencer, died in 1975, and she instantly went from being "the Honourable Diana Spencer" (as the daughter of a mere viscount) to being "the Lady Diana Spencer" (since her father was now the earl), she ran through the halls of her Swiss boarding school shouting that she was now a Lady and no one could ever look down upon her again.

This is my favorite photo of Barbara Cartland, from 1995.

She seems to have applied her sparkly turquoise eyeshadow with a trowel.

dear god those teef

I REALLY hope we get to see Raine (if not also Barbara Cartland) in the new season of "The Crown." And also her mother... but Raine moist of all. I love it when they show the royals' freaky relations (like Philip's wacky nun mother last season, or his adored Nazi sister in the second season)

I know for a fact they are bringing in someone to play Diana's eldest sister Sarah Spencer (later Lady Sarah MacCorquedale), who dated Prince Charles before Diana did, in the first episode of the season.

A lot of the ill-feeling between Raine and her step-children was caused by her taking the lead in renovating Althorpe. She favoured chintzy sofas and bright, cheerful interiors and persuaded her husband to sell off many of the original contents to fund a renovation project which her step-children felt was unnecessary. They resented seeing family heirlooms being auctioned off, knowing that they would never afford to buy them back.

Many of the owners of Great Estates face such tensions nowadays. In essence, these houses contain priceless treasures, but the lands which fund the houses is no longer as profitable as it was. Once art treasures are sold off, they are unlikely to be replaced. Tensions develop between fathers and sons about the best way to hand over the properties as intact as possible. In many families, fathers hand as much of the estate as possible over to the eldest son while they (the fathers) are still middle-aged, in order to avoid death duties. A premature death of a landowner, or the death of two generations in quick succession can wipe out the wealth which sustains the estate.

Even the Dukes of Devonshire (owners of Chatsworth) were victims of this in the 1950s. At that time, death duties were set at 80% (as part of a political decision to break the power of the huge hereditary aristocratic landowners. When the 10th Duke died unexpectedly in his 50s, his family had to sell of huge amounts of property and enter into negotiations with the Inland Revenue to settle the bill. As part of the settlement, the family handed Hardwick Hall to the National Trust.

In recent decades, families hand over property early, or keep it in trust (which means it cannot be sold), but this causes trouble. For example, in recent years, Longleat was handed over by the 7th Marquess of Bath to his son a decade before the 7th Marquess died. The 7th Marquess had covered many of the walls of the house with erotic murals and housed his many mistresses in cottages on the estate. His son decided to paint over many of the murals and wanted to evict the mistresses, which caused a family rift. This was widened further when the son married a woman of African descent. His parents were not thrilled and did not attend the wedding.

[quote] I wonder what Cartland thought Lord Mountbatten's daughters were going to do about it when she complained to them. It's not like they had any sort of veto power over the bride.

I think she complained about it months after the wedding. She was good friends with Mountbatten, so it probably seemed natural to tell his daughters about the snub. I don't remember for sure as the interview with the sisters was some time ago, but I think it was Mountbatten's daughter Pamela who said she told Barbara, "I'm surprised we were invited." Kind of an odd thing to say considering Pamela's daughter was a bridesmaid, and her sister the then Countess Mountbatten was Charles' godmother.

At this point when are are now discussing the Mountbatten girls, I have to unfollow.

Bitch stole my look!

How the hell did Raine get two earls to marry her?

She wasn't good-looking, she can't have been sexy, she wasn't a sweet person, and her background was so ridiculous it was a handicap rather than a leg up. Yet, the bitch married two wealthy earls.

She looks like Princess Anne.

What is that bulge midway halfway down her left leg? A colostomy bag? A urinary catherter bag? No one dared fix it for her? A hernia?

R145 it's a unicorn head coming out of the fabric. You can clearly see the eye just below the waist paunch.

How the hell did Raine get two earls to marry her?

She wasn't good-looking, she can't have been sexy, she wasn't a sweet person, and her background was so ridiculous it was a handicap rather than a leg up. Yet, the bitch married two wealthy earls.

She was charming, elegant, intelligent and manipulative, she knew just what buttons to press.

I think once you've bagged your first earl, they get progressively easier.

Big Barnet Fair.

The Husband of Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Neil is the 2nd Cousin once removed of Raine Spencer. So not only was Raine Sarah's Stepmother her children are blood relatives.

[quote] How the hell did Raine get two earls to marry her?

Old men need a caretaker. They can pay a mistress to provide sex, but they NEED someone there for the other things. Loneliness can be a real bitch. So many men have taken on a wife simply as a companion and they don't really need someone beautiful or talented. They just need a body there to know they won't die alone.

[QUOTE] Lord Mountbatten’s daughters

Men need managing, and a wife who arranges things for them.

There’s a variant that enjoys doing those things for a damsel in distress, too.

A lid for every pot etc.

Thanks for posting in from the year 1950, r153.

[quote] Yet, the bitch married two wealthy earls.

Not just two, but THREE.

Sometimes women either are raised to become like courtesans or they figure out themselves how to do it. they have an interest in wealthy powerful men, and they figure out how to meet the needs of men like that. Once they have entry into that world (either by birth or through scheming, they manage to stay in it). So they bounce around from one wealthy husband to another: women like Raine Spencer, or Jackie Bouvier and her sister Lee, or Pamela Harriman, or Mercedes Bass.

Usually the powerful wealthy men they are attracted to want sex, but they can get it on the side anytime; so what these wives provide instead is the ability to relax these men and amuse them and organize their lives. Raine's incredible organizational skills mentioned upthread must have helped her there.

The secret is figuring out how much you can stand of the husband's infidelities (Jackie Bouvier was initially not very tolerant of that, and learned to accept it with Onassis), and also how to deal with his stepchildren. Pamela Harriman, who was a real bitch but also exceptionally crafty, managed to figure out to alienate her husbands' affections from their children with previous wives almost totally. Raine tried that with the Spencer kids, but it backfired on her because one stepdaughter became Princess of Wales and told everyone how badly she felt her stepmother treated her, and another stepchild inherited the earldom and threw her out of the house. when his father died. Jackie never was nice to Christina or Alexander Onassis, and so was hated and only got $27 million from Christina when Onassis died (he was worth far, far more).

R154, prove me wrong.

And show me an “enlightened” “Feminist” man, and I’ll show you how quickly he’ll appreciate a woman who brings him a sandwich and schedules his doctor appointments.

And what about the men who cook and clean for their wives? Is that from 1950, too?

Same as it ever was, friend.

I laughingly dismiss you, even at my own peril.

In the words of Paul Crewe [Burt Reynolds] to Miss Toot, the warden’s secretary [Bernadette Peters] in “The Longest Yard” [1974]: "[italic]My, you have lovely hair. You ever find any spiders in it?[/italic]"

Never Aqua Net, dears; she always used this ...

Is there supposed to be more to be seen when an [bold]Imgur[/bold] image is clicked? Like a photo of the [italic]entire[/italic] can of hairspray above, for example? All I ever get [on all threads] when I click is a blank, black full screen. Malfunctioning just for me?

R161, I can see the full image @R160 when I click on it.

R162, Thank you for the response. I guess Imgur is defective for me.

Here are some pics of her home

there's also a picture of her at Althorpe (she's on the red couch). It was kind of hideous.

The Aquamarine room in her own home is nice

Maybe it's the perspective in the photo, but the seating in the first room seems [italic]awfully[/italic] close to where the open flame would be in the fireplace for Lady Acid Raine's dangerously combustible coiffure.

What?

Her daughter said; 'Believe or not, she was a feminist, though she didn’t look it. From her and from my grandmother, I learned that a woman can do anything a man can do and more."

Bullshit. She wasn't a feminist. She was born into wealth, and married titled men for wealth. Uneducated, she gained her positions through nepotism. How is any of this traits of a feminist? 'a woman can do anything a man can do and more','....provided she has the finances of a wealthy man to back her up.

R167 well, to be fair, women were disinherited for centuries and the men she married didn't exactly earn their wealth themselves, so... More power to her for finding a way to claim the stash.

It is kinda weird that she worked for Harrods/Mohamed Al-Fayed afterwards. He’s still alive btw, thought he’d died years ago.

[quote]It is kinda weird that she worked for Harrods

She went from being a countess to being a shopgirl?

R169 Not really that strange. Diana introduced Raine to Mohamed Al-Fayed and he offered her a position as a Director of Harrods International when all three were having lunch one day in 1996. Raine chose to work on the shop floor, her preference was the menswear department apparently.

Later she was also made a Director of Harrods Estates & Harrods (Management) and travelled all over the world in that role. She retained all of her Directorships until her death in 2016.

The link below won't preview but it gives a rundown of Raine's working life.

[QUOTE] She went from being a countess to being a shopgirl?

Yes, dear. Tell me, when your mother was a hairdresser in Australia did you get free blowouts?

Dearest Raine, you were married to three earls. Didn't you lay aside even a bit of the money for a rainy day? Where did all the royalties from your mother's books end up? I've invested quite heavily in jewelry. Additionally, we pay a very meager fee to live in Kensington Palace. When my dear Michael goes, I will be well taken care of and won't be reduced to shopping at Poundland and working as a greeter at ASDA.

Darling Marie-Christine, I’ve noticed (from heaven) that after 40 years you STILL haven’t been gifted with Her Majesty’s personal family order, unlike my stepgranddaughter-in-law Catherine. And no Royal Victorian Order either? What DOES one do when one needs to dress up for a state dinner?

Apparently when she worked on the Harrods shop floor, she wore a name badge like everyone else. But hers said “Raine, Countess Spencer”.

Reading about the various second wives (Jackie O, Raine, etc) being antagonistic to their stepchildren just seems stupid. Shouldn't you want your stepchildren to be on your side, or at the worst, neutral? Fanning a feud just seems like asking for trouble, especially when the husband dies and the purse strings come into play.

Diana was "Future queen consort."

Dig here up and ask her how that worked out for her. Here's a shovel.

R176, as the cunty fraus like to point out on their social media “well-behaved women rarely make history”.

Being agreeable is impossible for these people.

"....being antagonistic to their stepchildren just seems stupid. Shouldn't you want your stepchildren to be on your side, or at the worst, neutral?"

A lot of stepmothers are hostile to their stepchildren because they only care about their own children, or the children are so freaking hostile that there's no hope of a good relationship so they just go ahead and be their cunty selves. But when an earldom is going to be the eldest son no matter what, and there's absolutely no hope of disinheriting him and transferring the family wealth to your own child, then yeah - she should have done everything in her power to make him an ally, at the very least.

As for the girls, well, who cares about girls. Certainly the Raines of this world don't.

[quote] There's a wellspring of crazy & malevolence in that family; Harry came by it honestly....

You are truly mentally ill.

When Raine died they had to have a separate coffin for her hair.

Why the hell did John Spencer want full custody of his kids, anyway? Why keep the kids away from their mother, did he just want to punish her for leaving him? Keeping kids away from one of their parents is a rotten thing to do, something that should only happen if the parent is unstable enough to be a danger to themselves or the kids.

And he stuck them with a cunty stepmother, too.

Raine’s first husband was the Earl of Dartmouth. The ‘of’ in an earldom that refers to a geographical place is far less prestigious than an earldom without one i.e Earl Spencer, that references a family name. So effectively, she traded up.

There's a wellspring of crazy & malevolence in that family; Harry came by it honestly.... You are truly mentally ill.

Oh, whatever! I don't know how you can read these accounts of "behind the scenes" Diana: spiteful, vindictive, unwilling to listen to good advice & anger at those who give it and think "hmm, who does that sound like?" She was also very charming & (appeared to be) capable of great generosity, which Harry inherited too. No wonder he gravitates to the Spencers - he is very much a Spencer

Really r183? Interesting, I never knew that.

R175, there was no comma on the name tag. It was just RAINE COUNTESS SPENCER.

And it wasn’t even her title anymore since she’d briefly married the French count after Earl Spencer died. But then the French guy remarried so I don’t know if she was entitled to still call herself anything.

and her third husband was a Count (equivalent to an Earl on the continent) from France but that country doesn’t legally recognize the titles anymore so it was strictly for show, and he didn’t have a lot of money either. Her best marriage was #2

“The first time you marry for love, the second for money, and the third for companionship”

She must have subscribed to the Jackie O Philosophy of Marriage

Is Jimmy Hoffan in that bitch's hair?

Nanny Frans English auntie

R171 fascinating

R171's article is excellent. What an inspiring woman!

“I started off in ladies’ cashmeres, you know, and that wasn’t me at all. It was full of rather plump ladies trying to get into garments that were much too small. And I thought, no, no. It made me giggle, and I’ve got to keep a straight face.”

Raine sounds like she could've been a DLer...

R183, almost all Earls, including the very oldest titles, are “Earl of ——“ rather than “Earl (Family Name).” I would have thought that being associated with land would have more prestige, because having real estate, hence $, is always better. Plus, most of the earldoms based on family names go extinct, never to be heard from again.

Is her hair still alive?

[quote]Is her hair still alive?

Yes, it's currently on sale on eight different mannequins in Spitalfields Market.

I just saw Raine's hair scurrying about my kitchen floor chasing a squeaky bone.

I thought her hair was adopted by the Addams family.

I'm going to be Raine's hair for Halloween.

R193: She sounds like Mr. Humphries on "Are You Being Served?"

There is no difference in prestige between an earldom "of" somewhere and an earldom followed by the family name. What makes the difference is how old the earldom is, how prestigious the family is, and how much money the earldom holds through monies and properties.

The Spencers are one of the richest and most storied families in the UK. They are incredibly prestigious.

Diana's brother has always pinged to high heaven to me, but those poncey British aristos are often effeminate and mistaken for gay.

Why doesn't Charles Spencer add Raine's wiglets to his Diana shrine? Surely some of them flew off whilst Diana brushed past her after rescuing the monogrammed Louis Vuitons.

Charles Spencer seems like a pig, ever notice that William and Harry ever never seen with him? They did a huge about-face to him after Diana’s funeral. And anyway, isn’t he on his fifth wife now? He strikes me as one of those doughy disgusting Brits with bad breath, bad manners, and loads of money, like Prince Andrew or Piers Morgan.

R183, your claim that an earldom with a surname title is more "prestigious" than one with a place name is absurd.

As earldoms were originally and precisely associated with places, the most "prestigious" of titles all are so named. In fact, the Earls Spencer falls 75th in order of precedence. That's a long way towards the end of the line at a coronation. Also, just so you know, the Earl of Dartmouth is 61st.

The style of surnamed earldoms became the usual form form the 18th century on, actually in imitation of a style used in the 11th-12th centuries. A trend away from essential associations with places for earldoms began with the great and honored Roger Mortimer was named Earl of March in 1328.

But this information really concerns those earls who hold no higher title. For example, the Duke of Norfolk also is the Earl of Arundel, and these titles are the premier dukedom and earldom in the peerage of England. In the peerage of Great Britain. And all the earldoms of England and Scotland rank higher in precedence than those latecomers of the peerage of Great Britain, in which Earl Spencer ranks 16th. So much for "prestige."

I add the last two paragraphs, R183, to assist you because you seem to lack a fundamental understanding of the peerage insofar as earls are concerned.

fun fact: Earls get their name from ancient Scandinavian titles like Karl or Kurl, which was a Count.

'Fess up. Do any of the experts on the ranking of earls and suchlike actually belong to the College of Heralds?

Because if ever there was a job tailor-made for the sort of stuffy old queen who comes here...

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

R207, the College of Heralds has no authority but to confirm that the rules already have laid down.

And as for posts on the topic, certainly attempts to correct earlier errors fall into the category of reasonableness.

But, of course, you're just a sniping troll. You offer nothing and just crap in view. How nice you get to do what you need to do here. Would it actually helped you.

Those little spoiled Spencer turds would have hated anyone their father married. Probably put lizards🦎 in her pillowcase and knickers. I'm Train Raine all the way!🎉🚂🚃💍

The vulgarism "ofTen" in the first seconds of R8 says it all.

Raine had the habit of addressing servants (her own and those employed by others) as "Darling". She probably couldn't be bothered to remember their names due to the high turnover. The first time Prince Charles and the Duke of Edinburgh heard her call one of her maids "Darling", they looked at each other in disbelief.

r212 or it could have just been an endearment?

I’m not sold on the ‘Acid Raine’ thing either, Diana was a nutcase with a dozen different personality disorders and was jealous of anyone taking her daddy from her. Her brother has been married like 4 times and looks nasty.

r214 Have you ever thought why Diana had mental health problems or why her brother might have problems with relationships? Their parents were dysfunctional, their mother ran away and in came this horrid woman. Psychology 101.

r214 You don't believe Raine could be a bitch? Have you not seen a picture of her? She has bitch tattooed on her forehead! She walked into Althorpe and had all the antique centuries old furniture gilded in gold leaf to make it look like Versailles!

R31 Hair like that doesn’t require any product beyond a Bobby pin or a paper clip and and electronically outlet.

ok Mary! the Diana apologist at R216

r218 No, I'm apologizing for the furniture

I’m quite sure everyone in these old Britfag legends - Raine, Diana, Charles, Charles, etc. - were uniquely yet equally dysfunctional. No use arguing over who’s the biggest piece of shit in the shitpile.

That hair, tho.

I bet when she died her hair didn't get the news for at least a week.

Seriously, how the hell is Raine's, Thatcher's, etal. not supplemented by hairpieces? Product, of course achieves some of the effect, but still.

When the 40 and 50 hit, every human being's hair thins.

When the 40s and 50s hit, every human being's hair thins.

I thought Harry had grown close to the Spencers.

[quote]I add the last two paragraphs, [R183], to assist you because you seem to lack a fundamental understanding of the peerage insofar as earls are concerned.

Oh my!

We see that kitty has [italic]claws![/italic]

[quote] I thought Harry had grown close to the Spencers.

If he had, I think we know who has put a stop to it by now.

Just imagine what Raine's poussay looked like (or should I say pouffay). Those English gentry must like a plush beaver. Probs one could see it from the moon.

Didn't Diana push her down the stairs?

^^^ yes, and spat in her tea

[quote] Didn't Diana push her down the stairs?

[quote] ^^^ yes, and spat in her tea

Diana became kinder and gentler as she got older.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA That psycho bitch.

Let's be honest: Princess Cunt-anna was a borderline/bipolar mental MESS. The fawning over that bint after her death '97 was the fakest shit I've ever seen, like she was some martyr or something. More like some bitch who was just born into an easy life and squandered it.

r231 It wasn't fake actually, people did feel pain and empathy for her, it was ridiculous, but it was real. She may have been quite mentally ill and no doubt suffered terribly because of it, but no one chooses to have a mental illness.

r231 Princess Margaret back from the dead

Diana seemed more balanced in her final year.