Princess Diana’s brother, Charles Earl Spencer, shared a rare hand-painted image of their mother on his Instagram page, where he posts picturesque shots. Frances Shand Kydd looked just like her daughter Diana with her short blonde hair and soft looks as she looked sideways for the painting.
Earl noted in his caption that the portrait was made for her 85th posthumous birthday. “She was born…on the very same day that King George V died, in the same parish,” he said, adding that the painting can be seen in the library of Althorpe.
Fans react to the portrait of Princess Diana’s mother
Earl’s comments section was filled with Diana fans and royal family enthusiasts gushing about the uncanny resemblance the late Princess and her mother share. “Beautiful! I can see where Diana got her beauty,” someone wrote. “She was Beautiful! Her eyes are like your sister Princess Diana‘s eyes,” said another to Earl.
Some argued that Diana was not Frances’ lookalike, noting that she had a smaller nose and mouth, and a softer face. Regardless, one cannot deny that beauty ran in the Spencer household. “Grace, beauty, femininity — these are the words that circle over the face of your elegant mother…,” a poetic comment read.
Diana’s mother Frances Shand Kydd on Mull (I believe it’s Mull) pic.twitter.com/EhViTDx0jh
— Jean Michael (@Redrorie) November 3, 2019
Princess Diana did not spend much time with her mother
Princess Diana’s parents divorced in 1969, after 15 years together. She had to move in with her father, John Spencer, who remarried a certain Raine McCorquodale without letting her or her siblings know. Diana was reportedly so furious that she almost smacked her dad in the face.
Diana’s relationship with Frances was not any better as she quit talking to her for a few years after marrying King Charles. According to tapes from royal biographer Andrew Morton, Frances let down the deceased royal at her wedding due to her lack of composure.