Diana, Princess of Wales, had a notably complex and evolving relationship with her stepmother, Raine McCorquodale, which spanned nearly three decades marked by conflict, reconciliation, and ultimately cautious friendship.
When Diana was 15, her father, Earl Spencer, married Raine without informing his children beforehand, a decision that prompted a physical outburst from Diana. Over the following years, tensions between Raine and the Spencer children continued. On the eve of her brother Charles’s wedding in 1989, Diana reportedly pushed Raine down the grand staircase at the family estate, Althorp, attributing her action to Raine’s perceived rudeness to their mother. After Earl Spencer’s death in 1992, Raine was asked to leave Althorp, with accounts suggesting her belongings were unceremoniously discarded outside the family home.
Raine, the daughter of novelist Barbara Cartland, had previously been married to Gerald, the future Earl of Dartmouth, before beginning an affair with Earl Spencer. The relationship quickly became public, causing discomfort within the Spencer family; the children nicknamed Raine “Acid Raine” and generally reacted with hostility. Raine, known for her forthright nature, remained unapologetic, asserting confidence in her position within the family.
The couple’s marriage was far from smooth. On one occasion, a dispute between Earl Spencer and Raine was witnessed by Diana’s bodyguard, involving Spencer removing Raine’s makeup with a crumpled newspaper. Years later, during Earl Spencer’s hospitalization, reports indicated that Raine exerted significant control over his finances and limited the children’s access to him.
Earl Spencer’s will, drafted during this time, left Raine approximately £6 million, along with several valuable properties, a luxury car, and numerous pieces of jewelry. In contrast, Diana and her sisters received modest bequests of £10,000 each. Additionally, during her tenure at Althorp, Raine sold substantial parts of the family’s art collection, including works by prominent artists such as Van Dyck, a move criticized by Charles Spencer, the current Earl, who lamented the dispersal of heirlooms collected over centuries.
Following Earl Spencer’s death, Raine remarried in 1993 to French count Jean-François Pineton de Chambrun, whose significant debts she reportedly settled. However, the marriage quickly deteriorated amid infidelity, though the couple maintained occasional contact after their divorce. Raine passed away in 2016, leaving an estate valued at £5.8 million, none of which was inherited by her stepchildren.
Despite their fraught history, Diana and Raine later developed a tentative reconciliation. Their renewed relationship began with a lunch invitation at Kensington Palace, shortly after Raine’s honeymoon. Diana expressed gratitude to Raine for caring for their father, a gesture that marked a turning point in their interactions. The two women were subsequently photographed together at various public outings and maintained frequent communication. Diana reportedly valued Raine as one of her closest confidantes, at times expressing a preference for speaking with her over her own mother.
Observers have interpreted their eventual friendship from different perspectives, viewing it either as a public relations maneuver by Diana or a personal diplomatic success for Raine. Regardless of motivation, the relationship between Diana and Raine ended on a note of mutual respect and regular companionship.