Cynthia Ellinor Beatrix Spencer, Countess Spencer (''née'' Hamilton; 16 August 1897 – 4 December 1972) was a British peeress and the paternal grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Life and family

Cynthia Hamilton was the daughter of James Hamilton, Marquess of Hamilton, later 3rd

Duke of Abercorn The title Duke of Abercorn () is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1868 and bestowed upon James Hamilton, 2nd Marquess of Abercorn. Although the Dukedom is in the Peerage of Ireland, it refers to Abercorn, West Lothian, and th ...

(30 November 1869 – 12 September 1953) and Lady Rosalind Cecilia Caroline Bingham (26 February 1869 – 18 January 1958). Her maternal grandparents were Charles Bingham, 4th Earl of Lucan, and Lady Cecilia Catherine Gordon-Lennox, a daughter of

Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond, (3 August 179121 October 1860), of Goodwood House near Chichester in West Sussex, was a British peer, soldier and prominent Conservative politician. Origins He was born "Charles Lennox", the son and ...

, and Lady Caroline Paget. Hamilton married Viscount Althorp on 26 February 1919 at

St James's Church, Piccadilly St James's Church, Piccadilly, also known as St James's Church, Westminster, and St James-in-the-Fields, is an Anglican church on Piccadilly in the centre of London, United Kingdom. The church was designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren. Th ...

, London. They had two children: * Lady Anne Spencer (4 August 1920 – 24 February 2020). In February 1944 she, an officer in the

Women's Royal Naval Service The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in 1939 at the ...

, married Christopher Baldwin Hughes Wake-Walker, a Captain in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

, at Westminster Abbey. *

Edward John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer Edward John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer, (24 January 192429 March 1992), styled Viscount Althorp until June 1975, was a British nobleman, military officer, and courtier. He was the father of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the maternal grandfather ...

(24 January 1924 – 29 March 1992). Countess Spencer was appointed a

Lady of the Bedchamber Lady of the Bedchamber is the title of a lady-in-waiting holding the official position of personal attendant on a British queen regnant or queen consort. The position is traditionally held by the wife of a peer. They are ranked between the Mis ...

to Queen Elizabeth in 1937. She continued in the role after Elizabeth became

Queen Mother A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the monarch, reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also u ...

in 1952, and remained in post until her death. She was the grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales. Lady Spencer died at the Spencers' ancestral home,

Althorp Althorp (popularly pronounced ) is a Grade I listed stately home and estate in the civil parish of Althorp, in West Northamptonshire, England of about . By road it is about northwest of the county town of Northampton and about northwest of ...

, of a brain tumour on 4 December 1972, aged 75. The Cynthia Spencer Hospice in Northampton is named in her memory. Countess Spencer was little known outside court and local circles until, twenty years after her death, Andrew Morton wrote that the Princess of Wales "believes that her grandmother looks after her in the spirit world."

Honours

Order of the British Empire (Civil) Ribbon

4 June 1943: Officer of the Most Excellent

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) *

1 June 1953: Dame Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

(DCVO)

Ancestry

Notes and sources

References

G. E. Cokayne George Edward Cokayne, (29 April 1825 – 6 August 1911), was an English genealogist and long-serving herald at the College of Arms in London, who eventually rose to the rank of Clarenceux King of Arms. He wrote such authoritative and standar ...

; with Vicary Gibbs, H. A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant'', new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910–1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), vol. XIII, p. 39. * Charles Mosley, ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition'', (Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd., 1999), vol. I p. 6 and vol. 2 p. 2673 * C. F. J. Hankinson, editor, ''Debretts Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage, 147th year'' (London: Odhams Press, 1949), p. 1007.

External links

Peerage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Cynthia Spencer, Countess 1897 births 1972 deaths Deaths from brain cancer in England British countesses Dames Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Daughters of British dukes Officers of the Order of the British Empire Cynthia Spencer, Countess Spencer Ladies of the Bedchamber