Countess Raine Spencer, the stepmother of the Late Princess Diana of Wales, passed away on Friday morning UK time aged 87.
Her son William, the Earl of Dartmouth and an MEP for controversial British political party UKIP, confirmed the news before the family released a statement stating that she died following a short illness.
“’Raine, Countess Spencer, died peacefully at her home in London on 21st October, 2016, after a short illness,” the statement read.
The Countess, a former Conservative politician, was the only daughter of Alexander McCorquodale and the novelist Dame Barbara Cartland.
She married Diana’s father the Earl of Spencer in 1976 and they remained together until his death in 1992.
She and Diana were said to have a strained relationship at times, but reconciled and were fond of each other at the time of her tragic death in 1997.
“Diana was a lovely person,” the Countess told The Gentlewoman magazine. “She had incredibly heavy pressures put upon her, but we ended up huge friends. She used to come and sit on my sofa and tell me her troubles. I’m very happy about that.”
The Countess lived a private life in recent years, but gave evidence at the 2004 inquest into her stepdaughter’s death. She famously said that Diana was “madly in love” with Dodi Fayed and that it was likely that they would have got engaged and married.
“[Diana] always said I had no hidden agenda. So many people, because she was so popular and so world famous, wanted something out of her. It was a very draining life,” she added at the inquest.
In 2012 affectionate letters between Diana and her stepmother, in which it is believe they discussed Prince Charles’ relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles, were acquired by auctioneers but the furious Countess intervened and stopped the sale. She said she was “appalled” and “astonished” that they were going to go up for auction.
