The Spencer family, part of the nobility of England, between 1330 and the present. "The first known ancestors of the Princess of Wales were sheep farmers and Althorp came into the family when successive John Spencers first tenanted and then bought the property at the end of the fifteenth century." (Flyleaf of paper cover).
The Ninth Earl Spencer offers a chronicle of his family, discussing how their history parallels that of England and drawing from previously inaccessible sources to trace the Spencer's rise from medieval sheep-farmers to the late Princess Diana. 25,000 first printing.
John Spencer (ca.1485) is recognized as the common ancestor of the Viscounts Althorp and Earls Spencer. Family tradition states that this John Spencer was a descendant of the Despencer family of Norman origins. It was also this same John Spencer who first purchased the Manor of Althorp in 1508. Althorp has been the ancestral home of the Spencers since that time. In the 1640s the 3rd Baron Spencer was created the Earl of Sunderland, which title the family held until 1765 when John, younger brother of Charles (5th Earl of Sunderland and heir to the Dukedom of Marlborough by his mother, Lady Anne Churchill) was created the Earl of Spencer and inherited Althorp. Edward John (1924-1992), 8th Earl Spencer, was the father of Lady Diana Spencer (1961-1997) who married Prince Charles of the House of Windsor in 1981.
"Photos from the ... National Geographic archives document the royal's most memorable moments in the spotlight; a ... personal remembrance by Diana friend and biographer Tina Brown adds context and nuance to a ... life twenty years after her tragic death. Float down memory lane through more than 100 ... images of Diana, from her days as a schoolgirl to her engagement to Prince Charles, the birth of Princes William and Harry, and her life in the media as an outspoken advocate for the poor, the sick, and the downtrodden"--Provided by publisher.