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Peter Shand Kydd (23 April 1925 – 23 March 2006) was the stepfather of Diana, Princess of Wales, and an heir to the wallpaper fortune built by his father Norman Shand Kydd (1895–1962). His mother was Frances Madalein Foy (1900–1983), whose uncle was the Australian businessman Mark Foy. He was half-brother to champion amateur jockey William Shand Kydd (1937–2014), who was the husband of Christina Muriel Duncan, sister of Veronica Bingham, Countess of Lucan.

Marriages

He married Janet Munro Kerr, granddaughter of John Martin Munro Kerr. He sold the family business in 1962 and moved his family to Australia, where he became a sheep farmer.

After selling the farm and returning to England, and still married, he began an affair with Diana's mother (Frances) Viscountess Althorp. She was married to John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, later 8th Earl Spencer. They both divorced, and then were free to marry each other, which they did on 2 May 1969. He thus became stepfather to her four children, including Diana, although the Viscount eventually won the bitter custody battle. They lived in Buckinghamshire and West Itchenor, West Sussex, finally settling on a 1,000 acre (4 km) farm on the remote Scottish island of Seil. The couple separated in June 1988. Frances blamed the pressure of media attention, following the rise to fame of Diana, for the breakdown of the marriage.

In 1993, Shand Kydd married Marie-Pierre Palmer (née Bécret), who ran a champagne-importing business in London, which lasted until April 1995.

Descendants

By his first wife, Shand Kydd had three children. Their elder son, Adam Shand Kydd, was born in 1954 and became a novelist (Happy Trails), before dying in Cambodia in 2004. John Shand Kydd, known as Johnnie, was born in 1959, and is a renowned photographer, with more than 70 works in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

Death

Peter Shand Kydd died on 23 March 2006, aged 80. He was buried on 6 April 2006 in Aldeburgh, Suffolk.

References

1. Peter Shand Kydd
2. "William Shand Kydd 1937-2014". Peerage News. January 2015.
3. "Life of luxury stripped sparse by tragedy". Scotsman. 4 June 2004. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
4. "Frances Shand Kydd". The Telegraph. 4 June 2004. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
5. Riddington, Max (13 April 2012). "The truth about Di". Evening Standard. Daily Mail. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
6. "Lonely End of Diana's Sad Mum - a Life of Turmoil for the Mother of the World's Tragic Princess - Family absent as Shand Kydd dies". Daily Record (Scotland). Glasgow, Scotland. Retrieved 14 November 2022 – via Free Online Library.
7. Max Riddington. Frances - The Remarkable Story of Princess Diana's Mother
8. "Adam Shand Kydd". The Daily Telegraph. 12 May 2004. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
9. Barber, Lynn (8 May 2004). "The accidental artist". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
10. "Diana's stepdad to have Suffolk funeral". East Anglian Daily Times. 31 March 2006. Retrieved 23 April 2014.

• 1925 births
• 2006 deaths
• British emigrants to Australia
• People from West Itchenor
• Burials in Suffolk