Three Times a Countess: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Raine Spencer

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And suddenly she was friends with Princess Diana. Diana made the first move, inviting her to lunch, and soon they were phoning each other every day and calling each other “darling”. Raine was one of the first people to learn of Diana’s death. The BBC announced that Dodi Al Fayed had been killed in the Paris car crash, but Diana was in hospital with minor injuries. Michael Cole, who worked for Mohammed Al Fayed, had been frantically phoning the Salpetriere Hospital to ask for news but the hospital refused to tell him anything because he wasn’t family. Then he remembered that his good friend Raine was family, and got her to ring the hospital, who told her Diana was dead.

Brian Eno has just won the Golden Lion for music at the Venice Biennale, which obliged him to perform with an orchestra. Anyone expecting classical conformity from this boffin of sound, however, hasn’t been paying attention for the past... ★★★★☆ When Lady Diana Spencer was 15, she and her siblings discovered their father had secretly married the woman they called Acid Raine by reading it in the Daily Express. He hadn’t dared to tell them. A furious Diana was sent in “to sort him out”, a confrontation that ended up, according to the princess, with her slapping him round the face. She looked much the same, well into her eighties. She never had “work” on her face but slathered it with jojoba oil three times a day and always kept out of the sun. (She told one host who offered lunch on the terrace, “I don’t do outside”.) Her hairdresser reported that she had “unbelievable breasts”, like a girl’s, and she told him it was because she had never worn a bra. It was only when she was 86 that she suddenly lost weight and started to look frail. “I’ve got a little cancer, dear and it’s spread to the bones,” she confided to a friend. She died at home on October 21 2016. Spain: Parliamentary ceremony in Madrid to mark the 18th birthday of Crown Princess Leonor of Spain.Neil Parish is the Tory who was caught watching porn in the Commons. Now he stars in Channel 4’s Banged Up Gaudoin's book is revealing and hugely entertaining. Highly recommended. * Daily Mail, *Royal Books of the Year* * Tina Gaudoin sets out to rehabilitate Raine as a far more nuanced woman, an insouciant, sexy survivor uncredited for her many achievements . . . A colourful life. * The Times * Meanwhile, Johnnie had inherited Althorp on his father’s death. But it desperately needed repairs and the money was all entailed to the children. So he and Raine set about selling some of Althorp’s treasures to fund the renovation. Johnnie’s children, of course, resented this and there was a terrible scene when Diana pushed Raine downstairs, screaming “I hate you so much”. Then, two years into the marriage, Johnnie suffered a massive stroke which kept him in hospital for eight months. Raine stayed by his side, willing him to live, but she would not allow his children to visit him because she said they upset him. No wonder they called her Acid Raine. Raine Spencer leaving The Connaught hotel after lunch with Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997 Antony Jones/Getty Images

To her friends, Raine was shrewd, intelligent, witty and loyal; to her enemies, pushy, overly flamboyant and ruthless. From a career spanning local politics to dealing with the fortunes of Althorp; from taking on the Spencer family estate to her final role as a board member at Harrods, Raine's life was, by any standards, a success . Yet she could not sway the powerful media narrative which pitted her as 'the evil stepmother' at every turn. Equity release may impact the size of your estate and it could affect your entitlement to current and future means-tested benefits. For much of 1983 and 1984, Frankie Goes to Hollywood dominated the pop landscape so totally that... ★★★★✩Nicola Sturgeon has insisted she has “nothing to hide” but repeatedly refused to say whether she deleted messages sought by the UK Covid inquiry. The former first minister was challenged over reports that she destroyed communications that have been requested by the investigation. The Scottish... Nicola Sturgeon has insisted she has “nothing to hide” but repeatedly refused to say whether she deleted messages sought by the UK Covid inquiry. The former first minister was challenged over reports that she destroyed communications that have been requested by the investigation. The Scottish... Nicola Sturgeon has insisted she has “nothing to hide” but repeatedly refused to say whether she deleted messages sought by the...

New music can be a tough sell, as Birmingham Contemporary Music Group found when only a handful of... ★★★★☆ But who was the real Raine? What was hidden behind the immaculately manicured public facade and her overwhelmingly negative tabloid image?Acid Raine“ was the somewhat unkind name coined by Princess Diana for her stepmother Countess Raine Spencer. Before I read this book – Three Times A Countess – I am ashamed to say I had completely preconceived opinions of Raine Spencer, no doubt fuelled by my guilty secret of sometimes reading the Daily Mail. To her friends, Raine was shrewd, intelligent, witty and loyal; to her enemies, pushy, overly flamboyant and ruthless. From a career spanning local politics to dealing with the fortunes of Althorp; from taking on the Spencer family estate to her final role as a board member at Harrods, Raine’s life was, by any standards, a success . Yet she could not sway the powerful media narrative which pitted her as ‘the evil stepmother’ at every turn.

Perceptively examines the life of one of the twentieth century's original tough, ambitious women -- Lindy Woodhead Ongoing Covid restrictions, reduced air and freight capacity, high volumes and winter weather conditions are all impacting transportation and local delivery across the globe. Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage or a home reversion plan. To understand the features and risks, ask for a personalised illustration. She was indeed an extraordinary woman, whose life is told here with great panache by Tina Gaudoin, a former magazine editor. Gaudoin occasionally goes into little rants about how Raine was always under-estimated because she was a woman, but they only add to the fun. This is a sparkling biography of a fascinating woman.When Johnny did eventually die, poor Raine was shunted out of Althorp within 24 hours and even refused suitcases to put her clothes in… she left with car loads of bin liners.