by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2012
Lady Diana Spencer (1710-1735) with her grandmother the Duchess of Marlborough, photo from http://www.gogmsite.net/_Media/ca_1722_duchess_of_marlboro.jpg
I have always found it interesting that there was an attempt to marry an earlier Lady Diana Spencer to a Prince of Wales. This Lady Diana Spencer was born in 1710 to Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland and Lady Anne Churchill, ancestors of Diana, Princess of Wales. Lady Anne Churchill was the daughter of the military hero John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and his wife Sarah who was a favorite of Queen Anne.
Lady Diana spent a lot of time in her grandmother’s household and as grandmothers often do, the Duchess of Marlborough had plans for her granddaughter. The Duchess thought it would a wonderful idea if her granddaughter married the eldest son of King George II, Frederick, Prince of Wales. Apparently, the Prince of Wales was in favor of the marriage because of the financial security which would come from it. The marriage plans were not met favorably by either King George II or Prime Minister Robert Walpole. Lady Diana married John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford and the Prince of Wales married Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. Lady Diana died without a surviving child at age 25 from tuberculosis and was buried in the Bedford Chapel at St. Michael’s Church in Chenies, Buckinghamshire, England. Frederick, Prince of Wales never got to be king. He predeceased his father, dying at age 44 from an abscess in the lung. Frederick’s eldest son became heir to the throne and succeeded his grandfather as King George III.
When the 8th Earl Spencer’s Lady Diana Spencer actually did marry a Prince of Wales, I wonder if he thought about this earlier Lady Diana Spencer.
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Lady Diana Spencer (1734-1808); Credit – Wikipedia
Lady Diana Spencer, born in 1734, was the eldest daughter of Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough and The Honorable Elizabeth Trevor, and the niece of Lady Diana Spencer above. As a young child, Lady Diana showed a talent for drawing as evidenced by a pastel sketch she made at age 11 which one of her brothers preserved at Blenheim Palace, the family home. As Lady Diana Beauclerk, she is known as one of the most prominent aristocratic British artists of the late 18th century and created pencil sketches, watercolors, pastels, and etchings. Her designs were used on Wedgewood pottery and prints were made of her drawings making her work accessible to the public. Lady Diana also served as an illustrator for a number of books. The famed artist Sir Joshua Reynolds painted a portrait of her during 1764-1765 (above) and greatly admired her work.
Lady Diana married Frederick St John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke in 1757 and was Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III, from 1762-1768. The marriage, which produced two children, was an unhappy one and in 1768, Lord Bolingbroke petitioned Parliament for a divorce. Neither Lady Diana nor Lord Bolingbroke had been faithful during their marriage. Shortly after Parliament approved the divorce, Lady Diana married Topham Beauclerk, the only son of Lord Sidney Beauclerk and a great-grandson of King Charles II. The couple had four children, three of which were born before they married.
Lady Diana, the original “Lady Di,” was in a stellar circle of friends which included Georgiana Cavendish (Duchess of Devonshire, who was born Georgiana Spencer, the eldest daughter of John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer), writer Samuel Johnson, historian Edward Gibbon, actor David Garrick, statesman Charles Fox, writer James Boswell, statesman Edmund Burke, and art historian/politician Horace Walpole. She survived her second husband by 28 years and died in Twickenham, Surrey, England in 1808 at age 74.
Lady and Child Dancing by Lady Diana Beauclerk Date before 1808 Graphite and Watercolor on Paper; Credit – Wikipedia
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Diana Spencer (1735-1743), although not entitled to the courtesy style Lady, was the daughter of The Honorable John Spencer, the youngest son of Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland and his wife Lady Anne Churchill, and Lady Georgiana Carteret. Diana died at the age of eight and was buried at St Mary the Virgin with St John Churchyard in Great Brington, Northamptonshire, England. Her brother was John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer, an ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales.
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Resources:
- Chenies Manor Home. Web. 28 Dec. 2012. <http://www.cheniesmanorhouse.co.uk/>.
- “Diana Russell, Duchess of Bedford.” Wikipedia. Web. 28 Dec. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_Spencer_%281710-1735%29>.
- “Diana Spencer.” Find A Grave. Web. 28 Dec. 2012. <http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=15204401>.
- Gaze, Delia, ed. Dictionary of Women Artists, Volume 1. Chicago, IL: Dearborn Publishers, 1997. Print.
- “Lady Diana Beauclerk.” Wikipedia. Web. 28 Dec. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_Beauclerk>.