Raine Spencer, Countess Spencer

Raine Spencer, Countess Spencer ( McCorquodale; 9 September 1929 – 21 October 2016) was a British socialite and an elected local councillor. She was the daughter of Alexander McCorquodale and the romantic novelist and socialite Barbara Cartland, and the stepmother of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Early years Raine McCorquodale was born at 6 Culross Street in Mayfair, London, the only child of novelist Barbara Cartland and Alexander George McCorquodale of White Lodge, Speen in Berkshire, an Army officer who was heir to an old printing fortune. Her parents divorced in 1936, and her mother promptly married Alexander's cousin, Hugh McCorquodale, by whom she had two sons, Ian and Glen.

Countess of Dartmouth In 1947, 18-year-old Raine McCorquodale was launched as a debutante into London high society. She had a successful season, being named debutante of the year and becoming engaged to 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: As Lady Lewisham, and later Lady Dartmouth, she remained in local government for the following 17 years. She sat on Westminster's town planning, parks and personnel committees, and was later elected to represent Lewisham South on the London County Council, then Richmond upon Thames on the Greater London Council. In this capacity she took a special interest in environmental planning and ancient buildings. She chaired the Covent Garden Development Committee and the government working party for the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm.

In 1978, Lord Spencer suffered a brain haemorrhage; his wife nursed him, and his recovery is credited to her care and devotion coupled with the use of an untested drug. Just two days later, on 31 March 1992, her former stepson – the new Earl Spencer – threw Raine out of the manor house on Althorp. 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. Diana stood guard in person in the Spencer bedroom and watched as maid Pauline Shaw put the Countess's extensive clothing in four Louis Vuitton suitcases. When 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. They married in a civil ceremony in London.

The Count, a younger son of Jean-Pierre Pineton de Chambrun, Marquis de Chambrun (a deaf biochemist-artist), was previously married to an American, Josalee Douglas, a niece of US Ambassador to the United Kingdom Lewis Williams Douglas. The Countess again attracted charges of vulgarity in Britain when it was discovered that pictures of the wedding had been sold to Hello magazine for a reputed £70,000.

Later life and death

During Diana's divorce from Prince Charles, she and Raine reportedly reconciled and grew closer, and the two were frequently photographed meeting for lunch. Diana's relationship with her mother Frances Shand Kydd had been strained; Diana and her mother had not communicated for several months before Diana died.

In December 2007, Spencer was again featured in the news, giving evidence at the London inquest into Diana's death. Making a rare public comment on her relationship with her former stepdaughter, she said: "[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." Later she told the court, "Well, we all want the dark handsome gentleman to walk through the door."

Latterly, Spencer was a member of the board of directors of Harrods, and occasionally worked in the store, although as she told the inquest "Ironically, I never went shopping in Harrods. It was my husband [Earl Spencer] who practically lived there." No members of the Spencer family attended her funeral. Several months after her death, a selection of her belongings were auctioned off by Christie's, the auction generated £1,905,938 for her family. Spencer is buried at North Sheen Cemetery where in 2021 a headstone was erected.