Earl Had Tabloid Troubles Of His Own

LONDON - Earl Spencer's bitter speech at the funeral of his sister, Princess Diana, has opened a rift between two powerful families, the Spencers and the Windsors, that are both frequently described as dysfunctional.

In his tribute, Charles, the 9th Earl Spencer, referred indirectly, but with some derision, to the fact the Windsors had stripped his sister of the title Her Royal Highness.

He also promised that the Spencers would not allow Diana's children, Prince William, 15, and Prince Harry, 12, to grow up in royal stuffiness but would preserve in them her own free spirit.

Newspaper reports yesterday said Prince Charles was angry and believed Spencer had misunderstood his close relationship with his sons. Charles was also dismissive of Spencer's promise to have a hand in the boys' upbringing, the sources said, pointing out it would be "impractical" for him to travel back and forth from his South African home.

One newspaper yesterday likened the division Spencer had opened to the feud between the Montagues and Capulets, the families of star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet.

Constitutional historian David Starkey said, "It was one of the cruelest speeches I have heard."

Of noble birth

The Spencers' lineage goes back to Tudor times. Their ties of kinship range from George Washington to Winston Churchill. They have lived at their Althorp estate in Northamptonshire since 1486. They are, in short, quintessential aristocrats.

Diana's friend Rosa Monckton wrote on Sunday that Diana was far prouder of being a Spencer than of being royal and would tell herself when she felt challenged: "Diana, remember you are a Spencer."

The Windsors, the royal family, also have a long and distinguished history, but their English roots go back only to the early 18th century. The family was originally German, named Saxe-Coburg until World War I prompted King George V to change it. Queen Elizabeth II married a Greek, Prince Philip, whose own family ancestry was German.

Both families have seen troubles in recent years. All of the Windsor children, except Prince Edward, who is single, have gone through divorces that were often tumultuous.

Personal reasons to hate tabloids

The Spencers have likewise been known for their difficulties. Charles Spencer, 33, who has blamed tabloids for Diana's death, has personal reasons to be bitter toward tabloids.

When he was a bachelor, he was criticized for his choice of friends and his carousing, dubbed "Champagne Charlie." In 1989, he went on television to denounce tabloid journalists as "evil people" for harassing him and his fiancee, model Victoria Lockwood, whom he married that year.

Himself a television journalist who worked in British broadcasting and then for NBC, Spencer attracted more unfavorable publicity as his wife was revealed to be an alcoholic and a victim of anorexia.

He is separated from his wife, but she lives near him in Cape Town. In 1995 he wrote to the Press Complaints Commission that journalists had harassed her at a private clinic.

Yet at his 30th birthday party a year earlier, Spencer embarrassed guests by recalling his father's wish that he marry somebody who would stick by him through thick and thin.

"Those of you who know Victoria know that she's thick - and she's certainly thin," he said.

Six years ago an old girlfriend told a British tabloid she and Spencer had rekindled their love during a Paris weekend six months after his marriage. Tabloids have also reported recent liaisons with models.

Bitter words, mixed reviews

The British public is clearly divided over the wisdom of Spencer's attack on the royal family, as reflected in the letters columns of major newspapers. Readers of the liberal Guardian, for example, have mostly cheered him on, with one writing: "Earl Spencer for president!"

But the Times of London carried an article by Sarah Bradford, a biographer of the queen, who wrote: "Spencer's appreciation of his sister was magnificent; his bitterness devalued her memory."