Most people only know John Spencer 8th Earl Spencer as the man who walked Diana down the aisle. You’ve seen the footage. St. Paul’s Cathedral, 1981. He looks frail, his steps are slow, but his chin is held high. It’s a tear-jerker. But honestly, if that’s the only way you remember "Johnnie" Spencer, you’re missing the most interesting parts of a man who was way more than just a royal accessory.
He was a war hero. A survivor of a brutal divorce. A man who nearly died of a stroke and then willed himself back to life just to see his daughter get married.
Basically, his life was a mix of extreme British duty and raw, messy human drama. It wasn’t just tea and crumpets at Althorp.
The War Hero Nobody Talks About
Long before the cameras and the royal wedding, John Spencer 8th Earl Spencer was a soldier. We’re talking real-deal WWII action.
He was a captain in the Royal Scots Greys. In 1944, right after D-Day, he was leading his unit through France. He actually liberated two French towns: La Neuve-Lyre and La Vieille-Lyre. Think about that for a second. While the world remembers him as a quiet aristocrat, the people in those towns remember him as the man who helped kick the Nazis out. He was even "Mentioned in Dispatches," which is a big deal in military circles.
He didn't brag about it. Very British.
After the war, he served as an Aide-de-Camp to the Governor of South Australia. It was a life of service. He eventually became an equerry to King George VI and later to Queen Elizabeth II. He was deep in the royal inner circle decades before Diana ever met Charles.
The Messy Marriage and the "Mad Blood"
You’d think an Earl would have an easy time finding a wife, right? Well, sort of.
He was first engaged to Lady Anne Coke (who later became Anne Tennant). But his father, the 7th Earl, basically nixed the whole thing. Why? He claimed there was "mad blood" in her family. It was a cold move. The engagement was broken off.
He ended up marrying Frances Roche in 1954. It was the wedding of the year at Westminster Abbey. The Queen was there. Everyone was there. But the marriage was... not great.
They had five children:
- Lady Sarah (who actually dated Charles first—wild, right?)
- Lady Jane
- The Hon. John Spencer (who tragically died just hours after birth)
- Diana
- Charles (the current 9th Earl)
The death of their first son, John, in 1960 really messed things up. The Spencers were under massive pressure to produce a male heir. When Diana was born in 1961, there was a sense of disappointment. Not because they didn't love her, but because the "job" wasn't done yet.
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By 1969, the marriage exploded. Frances left him for Peter Shand Kydd. In a move that shocked society back then, Johnnie sued for custody of the kids. And he won. His own mother-in-law, Ruth Roche, Baroness Fermoy, actually testified against her own daughter to help him. That tells you everything you need to know about how messy that divorce was.
The "Acid Raine" Years
In 1976, he married Raine McCorquodale. She was the daughter of the romance novelist Barbara Cartland.
The kids hated her. They called her "Acid Raine."
When John became the John Spencer 8th Earl Spencer in 1975, he inherited the family seat at Althorp. It was beautiful but a total money pit. Raine started selling off family heirlooms and furniture to pay for renovations. The Spencer children were horrified. They felt she was selling their history.
But here’s the twist: Raine probably saved him.
In 1978, Johnnie suffered a massive stroke. It was bad. Doctors didn't think he’d make it. Raine was like a lioness. she hunted down an experimental drug in Germany and basically nursed him back to health. Without her, he likely wouldn't have been alive to see Diana become a Princess.
That Famous Walk Down the Aisle
By the time 1981 rolled around, John was still feeling the effects of the stroke. He had a limp. His balance was off.
People told him to let someone else walk Diana. He refused.
He spent months practicing. He’d walk up and down the halls of Althorp, counting his steps, forcing his body to obey. On the day of the wedding, he did it. He looked fragile, yeah, but he was there.
He later said it was the proudest moment of his life.
"I just remember we always love you," he told Diana when things started going south with Charles.
He wasn't a perfect dad. He was a product of his time—emotionally reserved, focused on the estate, and caught in the middle of a very public family war. But he was loyal.
Why John Spencer 8th Earl Spencer Still Matters
He died of a heart attack in March 1992 at the age of 68.
He didn't live to see the "War of the Waleses" reach its peak, or the tragic end of Diana in 1997. In a way, maybe that was a mercy. He was a man of the old world who lived to see his daughter become the most famous woman in the new one.
His legacy isn't just a title. It's the fact that he kept Althorp together. He kept his family together through a custody battle that would have broken most men in the 60s. He survived a war and a stroke.
If you want to understand the Spencer family today—including why Prince William and Prince Harry are so protective of their mother's side—you have to understand Johnnie. He was the anchor.
What to do next
If you're interested in the real history of the Spencers, here is how you can dive deeper:
- Visit Althorp House: The estate is open to the public during summer months. You can see the actual portraits and rooms where John and Diana lived.
- Read "Althorp: The Story of an English House": Written by his son Charles Spencer, it gives a very personal (and sometimes blunt) look at what life was like under the 8th Earl.
- Research the Royal Scots Greys: If you want to see his military side, the regimental museum in Edinburgh has incredible archives from the 1944 campaign.
- Compare the Portrayals: Watch The Crown or documentaries like The Story of Diana and compare the "TV Johnnie" to the facts above. You'll see he was a lot more complex than the show lets on.