to play in the bushes. i loved that. diana had a quiet, country life. you look at those early pictures and you see a country girl, you know, in her wellies and in her cheeky knits. she s swimming in the family swimming pool. she s on bicycles. all seems to be very happy and well. but behind closed doors it was not a happy house. diana s father was johnny viscount althorp, this man who would be earl spencer. and francis, diane s mother, had a difficult time with johnny. for women of diana s mothers
ruth, diana s grandmother who was a terrible snob, was appalled that her daughter should have left her belted earl. and as a result she gave evidence in the custody proceedings against her own daughter. she called her a bad mother. custody did go to johnny. so francis having planned to keep all four of her children and to remove them from this abusive household had lost them. because of what happened to diana at such a young age and watching her own mother lose her children, this fear of losing children would have played on diana until her death. after a succession of
johnny althorp finally had his son and heir, little boy charles. once francis has given birth to the son and heir, she s fulfilled her contract. she has done what she was meant to do. she began to plot an escape route for herself. johnny could be violent, and she felt that she and her children would be safer out of the home. there were terrible arguments in the household. i remember seeing my father slap my mother across the face. and i was hiding behind the door and she was crying. in september 1967 that francis, diana s mother finally told her husband, johnny, that the marriage was over and she was leaving. and then to have your mother
generation or any of her posh friends, you re supposed to keep popping out male children. when i married my husband i discovered this new word called premogeniter. what it means basically is that the first-born son inherits everything within these aristocratic families. can you even imagine trying to divide an estate into eight different parts? francis knew that johnny needed an heir. she produced two daughters, sarah and jane. finally, francis gave birth to a little boy, john. it s incredibly sad. he lived for barely hours before he died of a lung condition. there was not just the grief of losing a child but the grief of losing this child that her
country. you could always smell the trees. i loved that. diana had a quiet, country life. you look at those early pictures and you see a country girl, you know, in her wellies. and in her cheeky knits. she s swimming in the family swimming pool. she s on bicycles. all seems to be very happy and well. but behind closed doors it was not a happy house. diana s father was johnny althorp, this man who would be earl spencer. and francis, diane s mother, had a difficult time with johnny. for women of diana s mothers