Diana Frances Spencer was born on July 1,1961, and weighed 7lbs. 12ozs. Her father, Edward John, called Johnnie, and her mother, Frances were both disappointed. They were already blessed with two daughters, Sarah, then 6, and Jane,4; they had wanted a son to carry on the line. Diana was soon baptized without much ceremony at a church in Sandringham. When her brother Charles was born three years later, however, he was christened at Westmister Abby and Queen Elizabeth II was his principal god parent.
Diana's early years were spent at Park House, a small estate which sat in the shadow of Sandringham House, the 22,000 acre country retreat of the Queen herself. During these years, Diana felt a feeling of faliure because she was supposed to have been a boy. She tried to overcome these feelings by helping others. During her childhood, it was her brother, Charles, who benefitted from her compulsion to give. She was the one who dressed Charles in the mornings, and tidied up his bedroom as well as her sisters' bedrooms. Diana even used to polish the family's shoes! As her house keeper Bridget Bradford said " She treated you as an equal. There was no 'I'm Lady Diana and you're just a servant'."
When Diana was six, her parents got a divorce. During this time, Diana became very emotionally unsettled. The bubbly child turned inward. She also started school during this time, and realized that academics weren't for her; however, she did receive numerous awards for kindness and helpfulness throughout her school years.
Things became easier when Diana's mother married Shand Kydd in 1969. The children loved their jolly stepfather, and the farm in Scotland where the new couple settled was a lively place, full of warmth and laughter. However, her father's marriage to Raine was not so readily accepted by the children. Raine opened Althrop, the estate the family had inherited after the death of Diana's grandfather, to the public. This sudden change upset her reluctant stepchildren, and they never became close to her.
The Early Years Picture Gallery
Back to England's Fairest Rose
Back to Main Page
