Lady Sarah McCorquodale

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Lady Sarah McCorquodale
Born The Honourable Elizabeth Sarah Lavinia Spencer
(1955-03-19) 19 March 1955 (age 69)
Residence Stoke Rochford, Lincolnshire
Nationality British
Education Riddlesworth Hall
West Heath
Known for Older sister of Diana, Princess of Wales
Title The Lady Elizabeth Sarah Lavinia Spencer
Spouse(s) Neil Edmund McCorquodale (m. 1980)
Children Emily Jane McCorquodale
George Edmund McCorquodale
Celia Rose McCorquodale
Parent(s) John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer
Frances Shand Kydd
Relatives Diana, Princess of Wales (sister)
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (nephew)
Prince Harry of Wales (nephew)

Lady Elizabeth Sarah Lavinia McCorquodale (née Spencer; born 19 March 1955)[1] is the elder sister of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Early life

Sarah was born The Honourable Elizabeth Sarah Lavinia Spencer; she acquired the courtesy title The Lady Elizabeth Sarah Lavinia Spencer in 1975, when her grandfather died and her father became the 8th Earl Spencer. She suffered from the eating disorder anorexia nervosa in her early twenties.[2] She was educated firstly at Riddlesworth Hall School in Norfolk and secondly at West Heath boarding school near Sevenoaks in Kent. After passing O Level exams she left West Heath to work in London.

Family

Sarah married Neil Edmund McCorquodale (born 1951), son of Alastair McCorquodale and Rosemary Sybil Turnor, on 17 May 1980 in Northamptonshire, England.[3] Neil McCorquodale is a nephew of Lady Sarah's stepmother, Raine Spencer.

Neil McCorquodale and Lady Sarah McCorquodale have three children, one granddaughter, and one grandson.:[4]

  • Emily Jane McCorquodale (born 2 July 1983) she was discovered to be suffering from plasmacytoma, a form of cancer which usually affects the elderly, after she fell ill in 2003.[5] She was given radiotherapy treatment at Nottingham Hospital for several tumours close to her spine.[5] She married James Hutt on 9 June 2012 and they have two children:
    • Isabella Rosemary Hutt (18 June 2014)
    • Henry George Thomas Hutt (25 March 2016)
  • George Edmund McCorquodale (born 17 November 1984)
  • Celia Rose McCorquodale (born 1989)

Lady Sarah was accompanied by her husband and their children to the service of thanksgiving for the life of Diana at Westminster Abbey on 6 September 1997. Sarah was a lover of Charles, Prince of Wales, prior to his marriage to her younger sister Diana.[6] She later commented on her sister's marriage saying: "I introduced them. I'm Cupid."[7]

Career

She and her family reside near Grantham, Lincolnshire where she served a one-year term as High Sheriff of Lincolnshire in 2009, the unpaid enforcer of the Queen's writ in the county.[8][9] She became a master of the Belvoir Hunt in May 2010.[9] She has been a member of the hunt for many years.[9] Lady Sarah was also president of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.[10][11] Since the death of her sister Diana, Lady McCorquodale had to spend much of her time fretting over the accounts of the charity that was set up in the Princess' memory. It had raised an astonishing £100 million for good causes, however it attracted controversy with its legal actions to protect the princess' copyright, including a disastrous case against the Franklin Mint.[10] The Fund closed at the end of 2012.[12]

Relationships

Diana, Princess of Wales

In 1977, Sarah's relationship with Prince Charles led to the first meeting between Diana and her future husband. During the period in which she dated the prince, she allegedly met two reporters, James Whittaker and Nigel Nelson, at a restaurant and gave them an exclusive report on her royal connection.[13] She is said to have admitted to having been diagnosed with anorexia, having "thousands of boyfriends", a past problem involving alcohol, and that she had started keeping a scrapbook of all the press clippings about her royal romance that she intended to "show" future grandchildren. "Her head seemed to be turned by the publicity", the two reporters later said. She also declared that she would not marry Charles "if he were the dustman or the King of England".[13] When the article was released, she showed it to the prince, which made him furious[13] and he replied, "You've just done something incredibly stupid". The relationship dissolved soon after that. Some have stated the relationship between her and Diana was strained, because of her long resentment of the Prince marrying Diana and not her, though others (including Diana's biographer Andrew Morton) have said she was one of the few people Diana trusted. Later in Diana's life, she often accompanied Diana on official visits as one of her ladies-in-waiting.[14] Lady Sarah was also in regular contact with Diana immediately before her death and talked to her the day before she was killed.[15]

Upon the death of Diana on 31 August 1997, Sarah flew to Paris with her younger sister, Jane, and Prince Charles to accompany Diana's body back to England. She contributed to the readings at Diana's funeral. She was co-executor of Diana's will and was president of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.[3] Sarah also attended the wedding of her nephew Prince William to Catherine Middleton on 29 April 2011. It is said that William and Catherine are close to Lady Sarah, with whom they spent a weekend on the 16th anniversary of Diana's death.[16]

It was later revealed that Lady Sarah had offered Paul Burrell, the butler to Diana, anything he wanted from Diana's possessions which he refused.[15] However Burrell was seen by a policeman loading his car with Diana's possessions at on a day after she died. According to Sarah they were "only the clothes she had been wearing on the night she was killed".[15] She said after her sister died she had shredded some of her letters and took some personal clothing home.[15]

Other siblings

Sarah has shared a lifelong close relationship with her younger sister Jane. Author Anne Edwards, who wrote a best selling biography on the life of Diana, said Diana's two older sisters were extremely close and loyal to each other. Sarah gave her first child, Emily, the middle name of 'Jane' in a tribute to her younger sister. Her relationship with younger brother Earl Spencer has been volatile at the best of times. As the eldest and the youngest of the Spencer children, they have clashed frequently in adulthood and childhood. In recent years, possibly due to the death of their sister, the siblings appear to have settled previous differences.

Ancestry

Family of Lady Sarah McCorquodale
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 16. Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8. Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 17. Adelaide Horatia Seymour
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4. Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 18. Edward Baring, 1st Baron Revelstoke
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9. Margaret Baring
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 19. Louisa Emily Bulteel
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2. John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20. James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10. James Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 21. Maria Anna Curzon-Howe
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5. Cynthia Hamilton
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 22. Charles Bingham, 4th Earl of Lucan
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 11. Rosalind Cecilia Bingham
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 23. Cecilia Catherine Gordon-Lennox
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1. Lady Sarah McCorquodale
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 24. Edmond Roche, 1st Baron Fermoy
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12. James Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 25. Elizabeth Caroline Boothby
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6. Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 26. Franklin H. Work
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13. Frances Work
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 27. Ellen Wood
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3. Frances Roche
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 28. Alexander Ogston Gill
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14. William Smith Gill
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 29. Barbara Smith Marr
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7. Ruth Sylvia Gill
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 30. David Littlejohn
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 15. Ruth Littlejohn
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 31. Jane Crombie
 
 
 
 
 
 

References

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  8. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 59011. p. 4924. 19 March 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
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External links

  • Lady Sarah McCorquodale picture Lady Sarah McCorquodale leaving the high court at her sisters (Diana, Princess of Wales) inquest.
  • picture The Princess Royal and Lady Sarah McCorquodale during the prize giving ceremony at Burghley Horse Trials.
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