Why Princess Diana’s Mom Didn’t Abandon Late Royal, Charles Spencer

Princess Diana’s mom, Frances Shand Kydd, was accused of abandoning her children. In fact, Princess Diana also felt that her mom left her and her siblings when she was still very young.

But on the online forum site Quora, royal fans came to Kydd’s defense and said that she couldn’t have possibly abandoned her children. Rhys Hoffman, an author, and social advocate said that Kydd leaving Princess Diana and her siblings was just a misconception.

Hoffman said that Kydd didn’t have the chance to stay with her family after she and Viscount Althorp divorced.

“If you tried to petition a court to gain custody while married to an aristocrat, you might as well have been burning money. Viscount Althorp was the heir to the Spencer family seat, Althorp House… He was also the heir to an Earldom,” he said.

Hoffman went on to say that Kydd was Princess Diana in her situation with her ex-husband. Several years ago, Kydd was just regarded as a baroness, which meant that she was basically a nobody.

After Princess Diana and Prince Charles divorced, their two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, stayed with Prince Charles. Princess Diana managed to spend time with her children that’s why they never felt that she abandoned them.

Laura Warwick Martin, a former fundraiser, said that Kydd was left with no choice but to give up custody of her children. However, this doesn’t mean that she wanted to abandon them without any reason.

“She married Peter Shand Kydd, whom she had left her husband for, the same year her divorce came through. Adultery was still a shameful thing in the late ’60s and the divorce was really vicious apparently so she was forced to give up custody of their children, not surprising since the Earl was the ‘innocent party’ at the time,” she said.

Princess Diana and Kydd stopped talking to each other just weeks before Princess Diana passed away on Aug. 31, 1997.