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| Windsor (royal family), name of the royal
family of Great Britain, adopted in 1917 by proclamation of the British
king George V. The change was made to show the antipathy of his British
subjects toward Germany during World War I. The name was taken from Windsor
Castle. Reigning members of the house of Windsor have been George V, Edward
VIII, George VI, and Elizabeth II.
Before adoption of the Windsor name, the dynastic
designation of the British royal family had been German, derived from the
marriage of the British queen Victoria to a cousin, Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
Under the terms of the 1917 proclamation, descendants of Victoria in the
male line who were also British subjects were to bear the surname Windsor.
In 1952 these terms were applied by decree to the male issue of Queen Elizabeth
II. In 1960, however, the preceding decree was modified. Only Elizabeth's
own children, titled princes and princesses, as well as the issue of her
sons, would bear the name Windsor, while others of her descendants would
be named Mountbatten-Windsor, taking the surname of her husband, Prince
Philip.
"Windsor (royal family)," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 97 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. |
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The Spencers have been farmers since pre-Tudor times, coming to prominence in Warwickshire in the fifteenth century. John Spencer became feofee of Wormleighton in 1469, and a tenant at Althorp in 1486. His nephew, another John, through trade in livestock and commodities then bought both properties outright, was knighted, and so lay the bedrock for the family’s fortune. His descendants expanded the holdings through business dealings and marriage into the peerage. However, not until Robert, First Lord Spencer (1570-1627) does a fully-rounded character emerge from history. Thanks in part to the steady accumulation of his forebears he became one of the richest men in the land. He owned almost 20,000 sheep, and with sales of meat, breeding stock and wool his income was about £8,000 per annum. As a man of standing, he met James I as the royal court travelled down from Scotland in 1603, accompanying it on to London. Meanwhile James’s wife was entertained at Althorp, then a secondary residence, with a masque by Ben Jonson. Robert was soon ennobled; and like many Spencers afterwards, almost in spite of himself, he suddenly found himself in public service. King James I, sent him as ambassador to Wurtemburg to present Duke Frederick with the Order of the Garter. Although ‘his skill in antiquities, arms and alliances was singular’, Robert appears to have found the expedition more chore than cultural enrichment. Though politically active he soon fades from view. His son William, the Second Lord Spencer, did
not participate at Court or in parliament, but instead devoted himself
to country life, built a racecourse at Althorp and set up the Easter race-meetings
on
His heir, Robert, Second Earl of Sunderland became one of the most notorious politicians of his day. Contemporaries and historians alike have singled him out for his heartlessness and lack of scruple. Macaulay claimed that ‘In him the political morality of the age was personified in the most lively manner.’ Even that may be too charitable. Although Sunderland
managed to serve as Secretary of State to two monarchs, and Lord Chamberlain
to a third, only a Machiavellian sense of allegiance kept him
However unprincipled, his political longevity testified to his competence and a quick mind. And his reputation often overlooks his taste for art, nourished during his early education in France and Italy. He greatly enriched the collection at Althorp. His marriage was also happy, although Queen Anne described his wife, Lady Anne Digby, as ‘the greatest jade that ever lived.’ Jade here means liar! Never as deft a wheeler-dealer as his father, the Third Earl inherited a love of collecting, though his passion was books, not pictures. By the time of his sudden death in 1722, he had built up an incomparable library, although financial pressure at one stage forced him to mortgage it to the Duke of Marlborough in return for a loan. Ironically, much of the collection eventually
ended up at Blenheim. Because the Great Duke had no male heir, the Third
Earl’s wife was by special dispensation made a co-heiress with her elder
sister Henrietta. Her son, the Fourth Earl of Sunderland died in 1729,
without having married, and so her second son Charles became the
In 1734, the Fifth Earl left Althorp, and with him went the Sunderland title. His younger brother, the Hon. John Spencer inherited the house. Greater fortune awaited him, however. As the favorite grandson of Sarah Jennings, the dowager Duchess of Marlborough, he was bequeathed all her personal property. This included Holywell House, near St. Albans, and a fine villa at Wimbledon, as well as substantial land. He did not live to enjoy it much. He died in 1746, just two years after his 84-year-old grandmother, leaving his 12-year-old, also John, to inherit. The Hon. John Spencer had a character partly shaped by his enviable burden. ‘I believe he was a man of generous and amiable disposition’, his grandson wrote of him, ‘spoiled by having been placed at too early a period of his life, in the possession of what then appeared to him inexhaustible wealth, and irritable in his temper partly from the pride which this circumstance had produced, and partly from almost continual ill-health.’ Flawed he may have been, but he used his wealth
to become one of the leading artistic patrons of the era. He built the
fabulous Spencer House overlooking Green Park, and also commissioned Reynolds
for the family portraits which are now so valued. He added 5,000 mainly
Elizabethan volumes to the library, and along with his wife, the forceful
Georgiana Poyntz cultivated an artistic
In that other family field, politics, he was
especially
George John, who became Second Earl Spencer
in 1783 appears to have been a mild-mannered, scholarly man, eclipsed socially
by his over-bearing wife, Lady Lavinia Bingham, and no match for his sisterGeorgiana,
Duchess of Devonshire, an inveterate socialite. Nonetheless his separate
While his tastes were early encouraged by his
tutor,
Later on the Second Earl joined Pitt in his
Althorp had little ambition but the early death of his wife cast a sufficient pass for him to abandon country pursuits and dedicate himself to politics. In 1830 he became leader in the Commons of the Whigs, and afterwards Chancellor of the Exchequer. A head of details was not matched by any oratorical flair; ‘there is a better speaker than Althorp in every vestry in England’, wrote one contemporary. Still, few had his sense of duty which led to his main triumph, the successful passage of the Reform Bill. After succeeding his father into the Lords in 1834, he was glad to be sidelined from politics. Thereafter he dedicated himself to farming, and the raising of prize herds. A co-founder of the Royal Agricultural Society and the Agricultural College at Cirencester he was at the forefront of scientific improvement in farming. His brother Frederick, a naval officer, became the Fourth Earl Spencer (while another in this diverse fraternity, George, became a Catholic convert taking the name Father Ignatius). He added some fine porcelain to the existing collection. With his death in 1857, his son, John Poyntz, the Fifth Earl then resumed the twin family preoccupations of field sports and politics. In a career which spanned much of the modernizing legislation of the Victorian era, he was twice Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord President of the Council, and First Lord of the Admiralty. A friend as well as an appointee of Gladstone, despite the Whig background he identified with Liberal aims, and was for instance, an early supporter of Irish Home Rule. Like his uncle however, he was a ‘nearly man’, driven by duty, and not by ambition for high office. At home he was a keen huntsman, readily identifiable on horseback as the ‘Red Earl’ with the flowing beard. He often rode out with the Empress of Austria, a frequent guest at Althorp. With his wife, the beautiful Charlotte Seymour, dubbed ‘Spencer’s Faery Queen’ he also travelled widely, with a round the world trip in 1895. The Red Earl has the dubious distinction of reputedly having introduced barbed wire to England. His half-brother Charles, the Sixth Earl, was
Althorp was to receive perhaps more attention than at any time when the complex, scholarly Seventh Earl took over. He dedicated himself to the house’s upkeep, cataloguing its contents, and opening it to scholars. His artistic positions included acting as a trustee to the Wallace Collection and the chairmanship of the Victoria and Albert Advisory Council. The Eighth Earl was for fifteen years chairman of the National Association of Boys’ Clubs, a member of the Northamptonshire County Council for twenty-nine years, and a keen amateur photographer. He is fondly remembered above all for his ready wit and unaffected manner. He also won the hearts of the nation when he escorted his youngest daughter, Diana, up the aisle of St. Paul’s in 1981, during her marriage to the Prince of Wales, despite being only recently recovered from a severe stroke. In April 1992, Charles, Viscount Althorp became the Ninth Earl. Educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford, he was Page of Honour to her Majesty the Queen. He has a career in television and writing and was married to the former Victoria Lockwood. They have three daughters, Lady Kitty, Lady Amelia and Lady Eliza, the last of whom are twins, and one son, Viscount Althorp. The Earl Spencer
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Diana Frances Spencer was born July 1, 1961 at Park House, the home her parents rented on the the English royal family's estate at Sandringham. As a child she occasionally played with Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, who were near her in age. Diana had two older sisters, Sarah and Jane, and a younger brother, Charles. When Diana was six, her mother left her father. The Spencers divorced in 1969, and Diana's father received custody of the children. In 1975 Diana's father became the eighth Earl Spencer, making Diana a Lady. Diana and her siblings moved to Althorp, the Spencer family estate in Northampton. Diana attended private boarding schools. Although she wasn't an especially good student, she was excelled at sports, and won trophies for her swimming. She dreamed of being a ballerina, but grew too tall (as an adult she was 5'10"). After leaving school in 1978 she worked as a nanny and a waitress before becoming a teacher at the Young England kindergarten in Pimlico, London. Her romance with the Prince of Wales began in 1980. He was twelve years older than Diana, and had previously dated her sister Sarah. Almost from the start, the press took a special interest in "Lady Di." They staked out her apartment and followed her everwhere. Diana later said that she found the constant attention unbearable. Diana and Charles were married July 29, 1981 at St Paul's Cathedral. The wedding was broadcast in 74 countries and watched by 750 million people worldwide. Diana was the first English woman to marry an heir to England's throne in over 300 years. At the ceremony the Archbishop of Canterbury said,"Here is the stuff of which fairy tales are made." But the fairy tale was an illusion, as Diana had already discovered. Prince Charles was still in love with an old girlfriend, Camilla Parker-Bowles. "There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded," Princess Diana remarked years later. Distraught, Diana developed bulimia and attempted suicide. Despite her problems, she was a devoted mother to her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. She worked tirelessly for charity, and was beloved by the public for her warmth and humanity. In 1992 Princess Diana decided to expose the truth about her relationship with Prince Charles to the public. She secretly collaborated with author Andrew Morton on his book Diana, Her True Story. The princess's direct involvement in the writing of the book was not revealed to the public until after her death. The separation of the Prince and Princess of Wales was announced on December 9, 1992. The divorce became official August 28, 1996. Princess Diana kept the title Princess of Wales and continued to work for her favorite charities. She and Prince Charles had joint custody of their sons. In 1997 Princess Diana fell in love with Emad "Dodi" Fayed, the son of billionaire businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed. Their romance ended abruptly on August 31, 1997 when both were killed in a car accident in Paris while fleeing from paparazzi. Princess Diana's sudden death led to an unprecedented worldwide outpouring of grief and love. As her brother said at her funeral, she was "the unique, the complex, the extraordinary and irreplacable Diana, whose beauty, both internal and external, will never be extinguished from our minds." |
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William
Arthur Philip Louis Windsor,
Godparents: HRH Willliam Arthur Philip Louis Windsor,
HRH Felipe Juan Pablos de Bourbon,
HRH Frederick de Laborde de Monpezat,
HRH Victoria Ingrid Alice Bernadette
Desiree,
HRH Nikolaos Oldenburg, Prince Of Greece;
HRH Dimitrye Ivan Mihailo, Prince Of
Yugoslavia;
HRH Alexandra Miller von Furstenburg,
Henry Charles Albert David Windsor,
Diana’s Family Tree Parents: Father: Edward John Spencer, (Viscount
Althorp) 8th Earl Spencer, born 24 July 1924, only son and second child
of Albert Edward John, 7th Earl Spencer ( 1892-1975 ) by his wife Lady
Cynthia Elinor Beatrix Hamilton Spencer
Mother: The Honorable Frances Ruth Burke
Roche Spencer Shand Kydd, younger daughter and second child of Edmund Maurice
Roche ( 1885-1955 )
Siblings: Sisters: 1). Elizabeth Sarah Louise Spencer McCorquodale,
Born: 19 March 1955 at Barrat Maternity
Home,
2). Cynthia Jane Spencer Fellowes,
Born: 11 February 1957 at Queen Elizabeth
Maternity Home, King’s Lynn, Norfolk,
Brothers: 1). John, born and died 12 January 1960 2). Charles Edward Maurice Spencer,
Born: 20 May 1964 at the London Clinic,
Child: Lady Katherine "Kitty" Eleanor
Spencer
Charles’ Family Tree Parents HM Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, Queen Of
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Father: HRH Philip Mountbatten - Windsor,
Born: 10 June 1921
Marriage: 20 November 1947
Siblings Sister: HRH Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise,
Children Of Marriage 1: The Honorable Peter Mark Andrew Philips
The Honorable Zara Anne Elizabeth Philips
Marriage 2: 12 December 1992 Commander
Timothy James Hamilton Laurence;
Brothers: 1.) HRH Andrew Albert Christian Edward,
Children Of Marriage 1: HRH Beatrice Elizabeth Mary, Princess
Of York
HRH Eugenie Victoria Helena, Princess
Of York;
2. ) HRH Edward Anthony Richard Louis,
Engagement 1: 6 January 1999 to
Other Family Members
Princess Margaret Rose Windsor Armstrong
- Jones,
Born: 21 August 1930
Spouse Anthony Charles Robert Armstrong - Jones,
Born: 7 March 1930
Children: David Albert Charles Armstrong - Jones,
Born: 3 November 1961
Sarah Francis Elizabeth Armstrong - Jones Chatto, Lady Snowdon, St George Sprouless Born: 1 May 1964
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Baronage
Royal & Noble Heritage of Europe Windsor Street -The British Royals |
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Full Name: (HRH) Lady Diana Frances Spencer Windsor, Princess Of Wales Titles: Duchess Of Cornwall, Duchess Of Rothesay,
Countess Of Chester, Countess Of Carrick
Birth: 1 July 1961 Christened: 30 August 1961 at St. Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham Godparents: Lady Mary Coleman, John Floyd, Carol Fox, Alexander Gilmour, and Sarah Pratt Ascent To Lady Spencer: 9 June 1975 Engagement: 24 February 1981 to HRH Charles
Philip Arthur George Windsor, Prince Of Wales,
Married: 29 July 1981 First Child Born: 21 June 1982 HRH William Arthur Phillip Louis Windsor, Prince Of Wales Second Child Born: 15 September 1984 HRH Henry Charles Albert David Windsor, Prince Of Wales Separated: 9 December 1992 Withdrawal From Public Life: 3 December 1993 Spouse Admits Adultery: 29 June 1994 Panorama Interview: 20 Novemeber 1995 She admits adultery Queen Asks Couple To Seek Divorce: 20 December 1995 Divorce Agreement Reached: 28 February 1996 Divorce Settlement Reached: 16 July 1996 Divorce: 28 August 1996, London, Great Britain Engagement: 31 August 1997 to Dodi Al-Fayed, Producer; Son of Mohammed Al-Fayed owner, president, and manager of Harrod’s department store, London, Great Britain Death: 31 August 1997, Paris, France Funeral: 6 September 1997,
Interred: 6 September 1997; Althorp, Northampshire, Great Britain |
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A Princess with global appeal
***** "I want them to have an understanding of people's emotions, of people's insecurities, of people's distress, of their hopes and dreams." ~ Diana on the princes
***** "I've never felt so alone." ~
Diana
***** "Your kindness and affection have carried me
***** ON CHILDHOOD--"I always felt very detached from everyone else. I knew I was going somewhere different." ON OFFICIAL ENGAGEMENTS--"With Charles at my side, I can't go wrong." ON MARRIAGE--"I desperately loved my husband and I wanted to share everything together and I thought we were a very good team...Charles and I had our duty to perform and that was paramount." ON BULIMIA--"I didn't like myself. I was ashamed because I couldn't cope with the pressures...I felt compelled to perform." ON CHILDREN--"I want to bring them up with security, not to anticipate anything because they will be disappointed...I hug my children to death." ON BEING A FASHION ICON--"Everyone said I was the Marilyn Monroe of the 1980's and I was adoring every minute of it. Actually, I've never sat down and said "Hooray how wonderful." Never. The day I do we're in trouble." ON CHARITY WORK--"There are more important things in life than ballet, there are people dying in the streets." "I will run to anyone who calls to me in distress, wherever it is...Nobody can dictate my conduct. I work on instinct. It's my best advisor." ON THE MEDIA--"I seemed to be on the front page of a newspaper every day, which is an isolating experience, and the higher the media put you...the bigger the drop." ON SEPARATION FROM CHARLES--"I was the separate wife of the Prince of Wales, I was a problem, fullstop. I'll fight to the end because I believe I have a role to fulfil and I've got two children to bring up." ON SINGLE LIFE--"People think that at the end of a day, a man is the only answer. Actually, a fulfilling job is better for me...I've got wonderful friends, I've got my boys, I've got my work." ON AMBITIONS FOR THE FUTURE--"I don't sit here with resentment. I sit here with sadness because a marriage hasn't worked. I sit here with hope because there is a future ahead, a future for my husband, a future for myself, a future for the monarchy."
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This was all taken from the special tribute
issue of MacLean's magazine. It's as accurate as you're gonna get, I guarantee
that. I know some stuff was probably left out but that's not my fault.
Enjoy it.
JULY 1, 1961--Diana Frances Spencer is born to Frances and Edward John (Johnnie) Spencer. Her father would later become the 8th Earl Spencer. SUMMER 1967--Diana's parents separate amid a minor scandal after 14 years of marriage. Involved in an affair with Peter Shand-Kydd, married heir to a wallpaper fortune, Diana's mother moves out of the family home. Sarah, 12 and Jane, 10, are sent to boarding school. Diana and her younger brother Charles are shuttled back and forth between home and their mother's place in London. The Spencers enter into an acrimonious divorce and custody battle. DECEMBER, 1967--Their father wins custody of Diana and Charles. Diana is enrolled in Silfield day school. MAY 2, 1969--Frances Spencer marries Shand-Kydd, whom the children like. SEPTEMBER, 1970--Diana is sent to her first
boarding school,
JULY 1977--Diana finishes her schooling at West Heath secondary school in Kent. JULY 14, 1977--Earl Spencer marries the bouffant-haired Raine, Countess of Dartmouth, daughter of romance novellist Barbara Cartland. Her relations with the Spencer children are strained. They dub her "Acid Raine". NOVEMBER 1977--Prince Charles, who dated Sarah Spencer for several months, notices Diana at a shooting party at Althorpe, the Spencer estate in Northamptonshire, referring to her later as a "very jolly and amusing and attractive 16 year old--full of fun." JULY 1980--The love affair with Prince Charles begins during a polo playing weekend when they both stay at the home of mutual friends Cmdr. Robert and Philippa de Pass. Sharing a London flat with three other girls, Diana was working as an assistant at Young England kindergarten and as an unpaid nanny to an American couple's baby son. FEBRUARY 24, 1981--The engagement is announced. A reporter asks if they are in love--Diana: "Of course". Charles: "Whatever 'in love' means". JULY 29, 1981--The fairy-tale wedding in St.
Paul's Cathedral. Some
JUNE 21, 1982--Diana gives birth after 17 hours of labor to Prince William Arthur Philip Louis Windsor, known as Wills, who is second in line to the throne after his father. MARCH 1983--Charles and Diana being a 6 week visit to Australia and New Zealand. JUNE 14-July 1, 1983--Charles and Diana make their first visit to Canada, an 18-day trip to the Atlantic region, Ottawa and Edmonton. SEPTEMBER 15, 1984--Birth of "the spare", Prince
Henry Charles Albert David, known as Harry.
APRIL 30-May 7, 1986--Diana and Charles visit British Columbia for the opening of Expo 86 in Vancouver. JUNE 3, 1991--Prince William is accidentally
struck by a golf club at
JULY 1991--Diana hugs a sobbing AIDS patient at an English hospital, in one of her many displays of fearlessness and warmth that helped dispel panic about being near AIDS sufferers. OCTOBER 23-29, 1991--Charles and Diana, accompained by their sons, visit Ontario on their 3rd and final trip to Canada together. MARCH 29, 1992--Diana's father dies of a heart
attack in a London
JUNE 1992--Andrew Morton's biography, Diana,
Her True Story written
AUGUST 1992--The press reports a telephone conversation between Diana and James Gilbey, who calls her "Squidgy" and tells her he loves her. NOVEMBER 1992--On a disastrous trip to Kenya,
Charles and Diana's
DECEMBER 9, 1992--Buckingham Palace announces the separation of the Prince and Princess of Wales. MAY 1994--Diana and a Finnish student save
a man from drowning in a
JUNE 1994--Charles confesses to adultery during Jonathan Dimbleby's TV Documentary Charles: The Private Man, The Public Role. NOVEMBER 1994--Dimbleby's biography The Prince of Wales, written with Charles' co-operation, details the affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles beginning in 1972 and says that Charles married Diana to please his father. Another book, Princess in Love by Anna Pasternak, describes an affair between Diana and Capt. James Hewitt from 1986-1991. NOVEMBER 1995--Diana declares on the BBC's Panorama that she would like to be the "queen of people's hearts" and admits that she was unfaithful to her her husband with Hewitt, whom she "adored". AUGUST 28, 1996--Charles and Diana are divorced. Diana gets a reported $30-million settlement, and the two partners get equal access to the children. Though still able to use the title "Princess", Diana is no longer "Her Royal Highness". JANUARY 1997--Diana goes to Angola and launches her campaign against landmines. JUNE 25, 1997--Christie's auction house in New York City sells 79 of her gowns, raising $4.5 million for AIDS and cancer research projects. JULY 1997--Photographers catch Diana and her
new boyfriend, Dodi Al
AUGUST 1997--Diana goes to Bosnia to further
her campaign against
AUGUST 31, 1997--Diana, Al Fayed and their driver, Henri Paul, die in a high-speed car crash in a Paris tunnel. SEPTEMBER 4, 1997--The Queen bows to public pressure to participate in the mourning and,in an unprecedented gesture, announces the Union Jack will fly at half-mast at Buckingham Palace. SEPTEMBER 6, 1997--Hundreds of thousands of mourners line the streets of London for Diana's funeral at Westminster Abbey. The procession and ceremony are watched on television in 60 countries around the world. Her body is taken to an island on the Althorp estate for burial.
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