We are related......... Diana Spencer 1961-1997

Princess Diana came up in a trivia question at the local Bowlo last night. My 17 year old granddaughter impressed that I got the question right leans over and gives me the thumbs up. “She’s related to us. Yeah?” Lady Diana Francis, Spencer, Princess of Wales was also known as Duchess of Cornwell,  Duchess of Rothsay, Countess of Chester, Baroness of Renfrew.

Quite a pedigree.

Long ago my father fueled the fire by stating that somewhere we were related to Lady Diana Spencer now, wife of the future King Charles.

Seems like yesterday (1981) that she married Charles the current King of England, bore him two sons, divorced him, and then tragically died1997 aged 37. All my daughters grew up seeing the beautiful Princess of Wales on the TV and covers of magazines. We felt the pain of her death and the sorrow of her boys and the nation. One daughter swore she would marry her eligible son - the handsome William- in line to be one day the  King.

 Dad often mentioned we were related to Lady Diana Spencer or Princess Diana. I don’t know why he thought that. Perhaps he had an inkling that the Kerrs had one time or other married a Spencer more likely he had heard that the Spencer had married a Strelley- his mother’s maiden name.  Considering he could not attach her to that notorious family it was all a bit wishful thinking.

Although how he could reconcile this is beyond me for all he had to go on was he was mother was named Strelley born in Scotland, and he had a hunch that he could be related to a whole another bunch in England. He just had a feeling we might somehow be related is my guess.

I remember him turning up with a Lady Di cassette tape one day, probably including 20 seconds of discussion about her background. I called it fanciful but of course his grandkids were impressed that they “were related”. All the more to encourage Belinda that she had a future, as Mrs William Windsor.

Long story short – I did eventually make a connection to the Strelleys of England. They were an aristocratic family that served the crown for generations. In the documentation of the Strelley and the Spencer Genealogical lines  the tree shows Sir John Spencer (1460-1522) married to his third wife Isabel Graunt. They were my 12^th GGrand parents.  Isabel Spencer married, Sir Nicholas William Strelley. Her father was Sir John Spencer my 12x great grandfather. They lived at Althorpe the sight of Diana’s final resting place. The Spencers bred sheep and made a living from trading livestock and other commodities. He purchased the manors of Wormleighton and the estate of Althorp with its moated house and several hundred acres of farmland. He was knighted in 1519 by King Henry VIII. He and Isobel had 4 sons and 2 daughters. He and his wife’s tomb are at the family chapel in the St Mary the Virgin Parish Church in Great Brington.  

This guy was 12th great grandfather of us and 15th? to Diana

One of their daughters, (Elizabeth) Isabel Spencer (1496-1560) married Sir Nicholas William Strelley. He was my 11^th ggrandfather on my Strelley side. It was not such a successful lineage down the Strelley line. he had inherited from his uncle John Strelley and incurred debts.  Infighting in the family, and possibly gambling debts racked up by Nicholas caused the decrease in the prosperity and size of their wealth. Although they lived in an agricultural area of Strelley estate, it seems the focus became coal mining from that late 1500s.

Our nearest common ancestor was John Spencer and Isobel Graunt. Where our family descended from the Strelley line, Diana her boys and grandchildren descended from the Spencer line as follows:

John Spencer  1470- 1522 m Isobell Graunt 1477-1522

I

I

7 generations

I

I

Charles Spencer 1675-1722 m Anne Churchill 1675-1716

I

6 generations

 I

7^th Earl Edward Spencer 1924-1992 m Frances Roche 1936-2004

 I

Diana Spencer 1961- 1997 m Charles Mountbatten Windsor 1948

 I

William Mountbatten Windsor 1982   m Catherine Middleton 1982

 I

George Mountbatten Windsor 2013

 

Research shows that Diana is also related to George Washington, Audrey Hepburn, George W Bush, Winston Churchill.  

When I announced to the family that I had connected Diana to myself as 13^th cousin 2x removed instead of awe or congratulations I got asked – “So where does Winston Churchill fit in?” (insert “I give up” emoji)